Dan Calabrese

Now that a federal judge has struck down the 1952 federal law establishing a National Day of Prayer, Christians are presented with a golden opportunity – to shrug their shoulders and say, “Who cares?”

That’s probably not what most “Christian leaders” will do, but it’s what all should.

Dear Government, please bless my godly petition

The Christian community has become far too fixated, especially during the era of instant mass media, on seeking government endorsement and approval of everything we hold dear.  That, as Solomon would have said, is meaningless – a chasing after the wind. And we waste our time and twist ourselves like pretzels in the pursuit of it.

Now you will find few writers who are as convinced as I am of the power of prayer. Not only is prayer valuable because God does listen and does answer prayers, it’s also good for the person praying because it cements a closer relationship with God, which makes the power of the Holy Spirit that much more intense in your life. The result of that is that you are more effective at everything you do in life.

This is not to endorse any Joel Osteen-type nonsense about how people with a good attitude toward God will necessarily be blessed with spiritual riches. This is a fallen world and you are going to have problems in it, maybe financial ones. But staying close to God gives you more power and effectiveness to deal with these problems, and makes you less likely to add further, self-inflicted problems to the ones that are unavoidable as a consequence of living.

So yeah. Pray. Everyone. Only good things can come of it.

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But we don’t need the federal government declaring a “National Day of Prayer,” and there are some serious drawbacks to seeking one.

For one thing, any such national day must by constitutional mandate be non-sectarian. Why do Christians want prayer watered down so as to satisfy the watchful eye of federal judges?

The same problem applies to the movement to promote prayer in public schools. You don’t want public school teachers leading them, because if that’s part of their job, you know the prayers are going to be insincere and largely devoid of meaning. And “silent” prayer as an alternative? There’s nothing stopping you from doing that any minute of the day that you want, anyway. Do you think it somehow makes the prayer more special because your teacher gave you permission to be quiet for a few seconds? Your teacher probably wishes you would do that more often as it is.

As Christians go to court to try to reverse this ruling, they will argue that the National Day of Prayer is constitutional because it doesn’t constitute an endorsement of Christianity or any other particular faith. And if that argument proves true, then what good are the prayers? Why are we fighting for the right have the government put its hand on our heads and bless our meaningless prayers?

The government is not the partner of the people of God in the work of God’s kingdom. It is a secular necessity allowed by God, but not seen as one of the tools of his eternal purposes. When Christians desire so strongly to have government approve of their prayerfulness, you have to wonder if Christians have turned government into a mini-god of its own.

The other big problem with the so-called National Day of Prayer is that it implies we’re doing fine as long as we all pray on a given day. Serious Christians know that we are instructed to pray without ceasing. Every day is supposed to be your day of prayer. Even a bunch of people do pray at the government’s behest on a given day (and the over/under on people who will do that is approximately seven), what would be the value of this?

If Christians want others to see the value of prayer, here’s a better idea: Rather than have a National Day of Prayer where the government tells us all to pray, spend your time praying for the needs of other people, and let them know you’re doing it. Sincerely taking an interest in the well-being of others, and taking their needs to God, is a much better way to demonstrate the power of prayer than going back to court to try to get the government’s blessing to seek God’s blessing.

That’s what “Christian leaders” should do. They won’t. But they should.

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