Many are saying that the health and stability of this republic are under siege. We’re now witnessing a fiery assault against our constitutional liberties, a relentless onslaught upon the very principles that went into our founding. A number of things corroborate this. And so, Thursday’s National Day of Prayer (May 2, 2024) may be the most crucial mobilization of intercession this country has ever seen.

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Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding … (1 Corinthians 14:15 NIV).

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And we read in 1 Chronicles 12:32 that of all the tribes then supporting King David in war, only the sons of Issachar are described as men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

Likewise, if we are to effectually intercede for our nation at this very critical time, we must understand and perceive the pernicious powers that are at work in all of the current strife and deceptiveness. And in order to properly discern what is happening here in America, it is vital that we understand what is happening around the world.

Anti-Christ mandates are being implemented by many foreign governments at the behest of a powerful oligarchy of elites fully intent on subverting independent nations into unified globalization. Even a cursory reading of the materials published by the World Economic Forum will provide understanding of what’s taking place all across the globe and subsequently unfolding also here in America.

Here are just a handful of the global initiatives wreaking havoc even here in our homeland:

• • Open borders 
  • Reckless monetary policy 
  • An unwillingness to broker peace 
  • Virulent promotion of abortion 
  • Anti-family policies with regard to gender, sexuality, and marriage 
  • A refusal to investigate claims of election fraud 
  • Capitulation to World Health Organization edicts 
  • Coordinated suppression of free speech 
  • An ironic fomenting of racism and divisiveness through DEI initiatives 
  • The promotion of unscientific climate claims and the implemention of dangerous energy policies 

In view of these expanding evils, what are we to do? Well, Paul tells us first to pray with our spirit. So, as our knees hit the floor, our spirit becomes fully engaged and we cry out to God for justice, mercy, favor, and provision.

But Paul also encourages us to pray with our understanding. Interceding for our nation with understanding means we must devote ourselves to learning the truth about all these matters. That’s why IFA so carefully curates important news articles, prophetic insights, and political commentary with a kingdom perspective. This is intended to help equip you, the intercessor, with a deep sense of understanding, so that you can better discern these days in which we live.

Be an Evangelist for Prayer

As a worship leader and church planter, I’ve learned how challenging it can be to cultivate a transcendent experience of corporate worship on a Sunday morning. One primary hindrance is that many in the congregation spend little or no time in personal worship during the week. How can we expect the glory of the Lord to fill the temple on Sunday morning if we’ve not tended to the fire on the personal altar in our homes?

Likewise, our prayer meetings will lack corporate power and prophetic precision if our prayer closets at home become devoid of our own breath, or if they’re relegated to the purposes of mere storage.

So, the first way to help bolster a robust intercession at any National Day of Prayer gathering is to become filled to overflowing in our personal practice of prayer. 

Second, we should be regularly toiling, laboring, and travailing with others in a weekly prayer meeting. Just as the prayer closet is the engine room of the prayer meeting, even so the prayer meeting is intended to be the engine room of the Church. It’s confounding that far too often the least-attended meeting in our churches is the prayer meeting.

When you find a church that has a dedicated room for prayer during the week, you’ve most likely also found a church that is disciplined in prayer, intimate in worship, and engaged with local, state, and national concerns.

In his influential book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Pastor Jim Cymbala of New York City’s Brooklyn Tabernacle describes the dry, arduous journey of that church’s early years. Sunday services were sparsely attended, but Cymbala committed himself to holding a prayer meeting every Tuesday evening. His plea to God was that the participants might experience signs, wonders, and miracles. The people who came to pray were sincere and disciplined, but everyone continued waiting for a tangible move of God.

Cymbala’s daughter, Chrissy, had rebelled against her parents, rejected the Lord, and run away from home for an extended period. Her parents’ pain was inconsolable, as they had no idea where on the streets of New York City she might be. And yet, week after week they faithfully held that little prayer meeting. 

At one of those meetings, Pastor Cymbala broke down and confessed his agony, and the people began praying with fervency. A few nights later, Chrissy showed up on her parents’ doorstep, collapsed into her father’s arms, and begged for forgiveness. Jubilant as this reunion was, what happened next was even more glorious.

Cymbala writes: “A few seconds later, she pulled back startled and said, ‘Daddy, who was praying for me? On Tuesday night, who was praying for me?’”

It was the power of the prayer meeting.

This testimony of answered prayer and of Chrissy’s miracle rippled through the entire congregation and also surged through the community. Not long after that, Brooklyn Tabernacle began experiencing phenomenal growth, combined with a heightened revelation of the Lord’s presence among them all.

And if the prayer meeting is the engine room of the Church, then the Church is the engine room of the National Day of Prayer!

This Is the Hour of the Church

The prophet Isaiah certainly understood the days he was living in, and he may have foreseen the days we are living in too: See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you (Isaiah 60:2 NIV).

Though Isaiah so rightly discerned the evil and wickedness of his own day, his perspective was overwhelmingly empowered by the radiance of the Lord shining in and through His people. And we, as believers in Christ who are filled with His Holy Spirit, are not depressed by the darkness, but rather impressed with the abundant glory of His rising presence. Out of this awareness and from this position, prayer warriors across our country will plead their case and lift up their prayers fervently before our Lord. Amen!

The Church must not be silent about the perils of globalism and these anti-Christ ideologies, because the kingdom of God is the only antidote to this growing darkness. Even more, the Church is the place where “the peoples” oppressed by darkness can behold and experience the rising glory of the Lord amid His people. Amen!  

Therefore, this National Day of Prayer is a clarion call to all believers to take their place in the public square and to be counted among those who fear the Lord. May we boldly invite many people to join in this historic event; may we be like the sons of Issachar and pray with great understanding; may our prayer closets burn bright and our prayer meetings behold signs and wonders; may this National Day of Prayer be remembered for generations to come as the turning point of this nation. Amen!

And as we declare the righteousness of God in our towns this Thursday and pray for our country, may we remember Isaiah’s promise and pray that it would be true of America:

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah 60:3 NIV).

Amen!

How are you encouraging others to pray on the National Day of Prayer? Please post a comment!   

Keith Guinta blogs at www.winepatch.org. He is a husband and father, and he has been a worship leader and church planter. Photo Credit: blackrancho via Canva Pro.