Written by Marsha Richards

National Day of Prayer

Psalm 33:12:
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”

Daniel 9:19
“O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O My God.”

In 1952, Billy Graham gave an address at the U.S. Capitol that inspired legislation leading to an annual National Day of Prayer. On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed it into law after the bill was passed unanimously. On January 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a law designating the first Thursday in May to be the official annual observance day. These many years later, it is still imperative that we pray for our nation.

Just watching the news every night, we see how we need God’s hand to move in the life of our beloved country, especially as we continue to deal with the pandemic, discord amongst our citizens, violence in our cities, and political rancor with our leaders. How about for you? Are you troubled, fearful, feeling hopeless? Are you worried about your future? The future of our country? We are living in uncertain times. Perhaps now more than ever we need to cry out in repentance and beg for God’s forgiveness and mercy to turn our country around and to turn the hearts of our leaders towards God.

So let us join together on this day to pray for our nation. Consider using the guidelines below, and start by praying the scripture, then let us lift up our requests as citizens of one nation under God, hearts and voices praying in one accord—according to His sovereign will—for our nation, its leaders, our families, our schools and our neighborhoods. Oh, God, hear us. Forgive us. Have mercy on us. Heal our land.

Praise and Worship:
“Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling” Ps. 2:11

Confession:
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16

Pray for:
Our Nation
“…and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Chr. 7:14

Our Leaders
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” 1 Tim. 2:1

Our Families
Men ~ “For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths.” Prov. 5:6
Women ~ “The wise woman builds her house.” Prov. 14:1
“…a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” Prov. 31:30
Children ~ “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in Truth.” 3 John 1:4

Our Schools
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” Col. 2:8

Our Neighborhoods
“…you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” Lev. 19:18

Dear Father, accept our prayers, we beseech You. Hear our pleas, we beg You. In all we acknowledge, In God We Trust. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

As a devoted Christ-follower, Marsha has walked this twisting, winding, bumpy road called life, giving her many opportunities to serve Him. Besides owning and managing a Tea business for twenty-two years, her focus has been to minister to women as a leader, teacher, mentor and public speaker.

 At this point in her life, she has a great sense of urgency to share the love of Christ with men and women from all walks of life through the written word.  She has been married for 56 years and is the mother of two married daughters and grandmother of four. 

 You can contact her through her Devotions for All Reasons Facebook page, the website of the same name, as well as: Tea For All Reasons, Food for All Reasons (both shared with her daughter, Jen) and England for All Reasons, shared with her husband, Jake.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Freely Photos