Somebody Forgot to Invite Jesus to the National Day of Prayer
I’m more than a bit discomforted by the theology driving the "National Day of Prayer." There is a fundamentalist Christian orientation to it all that bothers me quite a lot, a nearly superstitious view that by getting a lot of people to "honor God" or "pray to God" God is going to grant "most favored nation status" to the USA. But even worse, if you visit the National Day of Prayer web site there is a lot of hoopla and hype but…no Jesus! Yes, you read that right. The prayer they suggest does not mention Christ. The National Day of Prayer site has a section on "What makes prayer work?" and there is not a single word about Jesus Christ and praying in His name there either. Count me out of "National Day of Prayer" since the NDP folks obviously have chosen to count Jesus out. I can almost hear somebody saying, "Oh, come on, what’s wrong with encouraging people to pray?" And my response is, "There’s everything wrong with encouraging people to pray when you forget to mention Jesus! There’s everything wrong with being part of an effort that gives equal time to paganism and false doctrine." The National Day of Prayer was established by Congress in 1952, with the urging and encouragement of Harry Truman. The day was established with specific mention that it is "non-sectarian." What does that mean? Oh, it sounds reasonable enough. But, what it means is that the National Day of Prayer was adopted and people were encouraged to pray, however they conceive of God-him/her/it. And this makes sense. Harry Truman was a Mason, in fact, the head of the Missouri Masons. And of course the one thing Masons do not like is anyone daring to insist that there is no "Great Architect" but rather only the One, True God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that, as Jesus says in John 8:19, "You know neither me, nor my Father. If you had known me, you would know my Father also."
National Day of Prayer Tomorrow
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, an…
If these folks won’t pray in Jesus name, they certainly won’t pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. God forbid they would make the sign of the cross too!
No wonder so many of our new, Evangelical enthusiasts gladly reject the doctrine of the Trinity.
+Andrew
The prayer (your first link) misappropriates God’s promises made to Israel for America (the specter of “manifest destiny”?!?), and the second link directs viewers to a Billy Graham Web site.
Lutherans should object!
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Dear Chi-Chi, you are so Lutheran
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That brings up a question: Is it better that non-Christians pray, or that they don’t pray? If it makes no difference when they do, then the net effect is still a positive one, because Christians are also being encouraged to pray.
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McCain: I may not have been clear enough in my post. Thanks for this chance to clarify my remarks. When people who claim to be Christians put themselves forward as champions of the National Day of Prayer but bend over backwards to present the most generic, non-specific prayer possible, thus encouraging Christians to pray this way, not to mention just confirming non-Christians in their unbelief, I don’t see any reason to support this effort. We do not need a contrived “National Day of Prayer” to encourage genuine Christian prayer. The only thing the National Day of Prayer web site and organized effort is encouraging, as far as I can see, is a false and misleading doctrine of prayer, false and misleading understandings of the Bible, and false and misleading understandings of God. I’m really having a hard time, in any way, supporting the NDP. And, respectfully, I think you are not adequately attending to the details here, for, as they say, that’s where the Devil is.
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When do we realize that the American religion is a version of the theistic rationalism that was quite common among the educated in the 18th century and was thus shared by many of the American “founding fathers”? Sure, they spoke about God, but used Nature and Providence synonymously — no room for Christ *as God* in the brotherhood. A non-sectarian religiosity is what they thought would be sufficient to undergird the moral virtues needed for the newly-founded Republic.
The opposite of “sectarian” is “denominationalist”. When first invented as a kind of Pietist form of ecumenicism, denominationalism embraced only Protestant church bodies; later, no doubt, Catholics were added to the friendly, peaceful community of “Christians.” Today, we’ve come to include all value-oriented people regardless of what religion they belong to. The obvious differences become less and less important; what matters is the belief in a god and agreement on a basic moral code.
This, by eliminating the scandal of the cross, transforms Christianity quite literally into a “world” religion, a religion that emanates from our sinful hearts, is based on reason and the law, and promises this-worldly prosperity.
As the sainted Robert Preus
often said, “The Gospel assumed is the Gospel denied!” That goes for prayers without mention of Christ or the Holy Trinity.
I expect one day many will be praying with Muslims and
Jews and Ba’Hai (sp?) and…
Oh, that already happened didn’t it at YS in 2001?
But, I guess we shouldn’t be “picky”!
I could flag so many of your posts for the honor, but this one really caught my eye. Have yourself an Aardie, brother Paul.
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McCain: A hat trick! Three times an Ardie. An honor each time. Thanks.
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I’ve often told members of my congregation: Read “The Anonymous God” (a CPH book), and you’ll NEVER hear the phrases, “God Bless America” and “In God We Trust” the same again. Hey — with the “understanding” of God that Pastor Sonntag pointed out, about the only honest use left for the “In God We Trust” saying would be, “In God We Trust — All Others Pay Cash!” Well, EVEN THEN . . .
Hi Rev. McCain,
I understand your concern overall but there are some strong Jesus-honoring NDP events out there as well. In our area – a very divided area with many liberal as well as fundamentalist groups – a group came together opposite another group that was “watered down” and had begun including Buddhists, etc. The sole purpose of this group was to provide a Christ-centered NDP and after a few years of two NDP events, the “watered down” group dissipated and now the Christ-centered group remains. It is supported financially by local churches and carefully screens those who get involved and who pray. In fact all prayer leaders are specficially told that the prayers are Christ-centered and non-generic. So good things do happen on NDP, but each person needs to check into the background of his local area NDP events because not all NDP events are equal.