When I was a kid going to Sunday school and Bible camp I can still recall being taught some of those helpful acronyms for prayer. You know the ones…
Parts of Prayer:
P for Praise
A for Ask
R for Repent
T for Thanks
S for Share

Take a TRIP with God
T for Thank
R for Regret
I for Intercession
P for Purpose

Or, ACTS
A for Adoration
C for Confession
T for Thanksgiving
S for Supplication

I suspect there are more out there.

As I was reviewing these lists I noticed that there were some reoccurring themes, such as:
Adoration, Thanksgiving, Confession and Intercession.
And as I looked at this list I couldn’t help but wonder how these parts of prayer might be helpful for those of us who are gathering to observe this year’s National Day of Prayer.
In other words, how might we incorporate these reoccurring themes in our prayer time today and quite frankly, every day?

Perhaps it would be helpful to take a closer look at each of them…

Let’s start with the themes of Adoration and Praise.
As I understand this, it means that we begin by reminding ourselves to whom we are praying to and upholding the appropriate posture when doing so.
I’m not talking about whether we kneel, or stand or hold our hands in the air when we pray, I’m talking about our spiritual posture, and the word that comes to mind is one of humility
What I’m getting at is when addressing God the Father Almighty it only seems appropriate that we do so with an overwhelming sense of humility, not groveling, mind you, but with a spirit of reverence and awe.
And at the same time we approach our Creator with a spirit of trust and the assurance that God wants to know what’s on our minds and hearts, just as any parent wants to know the needs and concerns of his or her child.
It means that we remind ourselves that we are not the center of attention in the conversation.
It is here that I find Pastor Rick Warren’s opening sentence for the Purpose Drive Life to be so helpful when he writes, “It’s not about you”.
And the sooner we can get over ourselves – the sooner we can redirect our attention and adoration to the One who is worthy of such—well, we will truly be off to a good start!
And once we refrain from puffing up ourselves and remember that God is the center of our attention, and if God is the one who is to be adorned and praised, then maybe, it might be both respectful and fruitful if when we are praying that we spend a little less time chattering with our shopping list of wants and wishes and spend a little more time quietly and respectfully listening to the still small voice of God who might have a better path for us to follow.
Prayer begins with the recognition of who we are addressing and the understanding that we come before God with humility, respect and trust.

This leads me to the second theme: Thanksgiving.
As individuals who have, by no effort on our own part are residents in this great and bountiful land, we have so much to be thankful for.
We have been blessed with a land rich in recourses and freedoms that the rest of the world envies.
We are blessed with a diverse and beautiful country—a land blessed with spacious skies and amber waves of grain, with purple mountains majesty and fruitful plains.
We live in a land that grants us freedoms that we all too often either take for granted or exploit.
We live in a land that is overflowing with milk and honey; in other words, due to our natural resources there is no need for anyone to go hungry or homeless—what we lack is a commitment to good stewardship, generosity and compassion for those in need.
As Americans we are richly blessed and for this it would do us well to both extend our thankfulness and live lives of gratitude.
And yet, that sense of gratitude and thankfulness is sometimes hard to notice by our tendency to waver between a sense of entitlement, callousness and stinginess in regard to the gifts we have graciously been given.
And this is unfortunate because we have been richly blessed in order that we might be a blessing to others.

And this leads me to the theme of Confession and Repentance.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that while we are all people of faith we do not all share the same political persuasion, in other words, we have a diversity of perspectives and agendas, and that’s Okay.
While we might be united in Christ, we also have a variety of ways to respond and live out our faith in the public square, and that too is Okay.
Much like our diverse geographical landscape in this land that varies from field and forest, lakes and deserts, deep canyons and majestic mountains—politically we are equally diverse.
We have individuals who are theologically conservative, progressive, moderate, liberal and everything in-between and beyond.
We have folks who are pro-life and pro-choice.
We have Democrats, Republicans, Libertarian, Independents as well as folks who have never bothered to vote at all.
As Christians we have people all over the map when it comes to the voting booths and each person is passionate and committed to the degree of their liking.
And because of this diversity of theological, political and social perspectives it is likely that we each bring with us a list of things that we believe that we as a nation need to confess and repent.
Unfortunately, most of those things we might believe that our nation might need to repent of are things that folks on the other side of the aisle are guilty of, at least as far as we are concerned.
In other words, we are all guilty to some degree of the sentiment that I am right and you are wrong and there is no middle ground.
And regardless of our position we have all at some point truly believed in our hearts that God was on our side—to which I am reminded of President Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote where he stated: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

So, rather than rattle off a list of potential sins and transgressions we might need to confess allow me to suggest two—the lack of Civility and the overwhelming degree of Cynicism that permeates our country.
Regardless of our theological or political persuasions, we are all guilty to some degree either by sins of commission and/or sins of omission.
In other words, we have either stirred up or fanned the flames of sentiments that make it difficult for people of differing perspectives to sit down and discuss an issue with respect and civility—or—we have done nothing to squelch the lack of civility and ever increasing cynicism toward others efforts or motives.
In other words, as one dear old saint once told me—“If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.”

I would like to suggest that we strive to be part of the solution and that begins by praying for a renewed sense of trust and mutual respect toward one another when dealing with differing perspectives.
I would suggest that we pray that we might strive for common ground on behalf of the common good.
I would suggest that we make a point to take time to sit down with those folks with who we might find ourselves on opposite sides of an issue and listen to their story. Take time to gain some perspective as to where they are coming from, find out what makes them tick, what their passions might be and in doing so maybe even finding some of that common ground.
But here is the catch—you must only listen—not debate or argue—listen, respectfully.
It doesn’t matter whether you agree with them or not, that’s not the point.
The point is one of developing the spirit of civility and mutual respect—or as Jesus might put it—the love of one’s neighbor is the point.

And this leads me to the last theme—Intercession and Supplication, the praying for and on behalf of others.

I have heard it said, and I suspect you have too—to be a follower of Jesus is to pray, particularly, to pray on behalf of others.
For people of faith, this is a good and worthy use of our time and energy.
We all know others who are in need of God’s healing, comfort, guidance and support.
We all know friends and family members who have and could benefit from some divine intervention in their lives as they struggle with health concerns, family and marriage issues, financial strains, and the list goes on.

And since this is a National Day of Prayer, it only makes sense that we also take time to pray on behalf of those who have been elected to positions of leadership nationally and locally.
About this time last year I had the privilege of providing the opening prayer at the House of Representatives.
And while we have a great diversity of representatives from a vast array of political and theological perspectives, it is apparent from both their degree of respect and their conversations afterwards—the prayers are appreciated—and your prayers would be appreciated today, if not every day.
So, pray for our elected leaders—pray for and on behalf of—pray that the Holy Spirit would grant them wisdom as they struggle with complex challenges, as they make difficult decisions.
And by all means, be gracious, if not civil, when votes don’t always go the way you believe they ought.

On a final note regarding intercession and supplications, as disciples of Jesus we also know that we are all being challenged to lift up the sentiments of Matthew 25—in other words—caring for and responding to the needs of the hungry, the homeless, the thirsty, the lonely, the sick and the imprisoned.
And for that reason these unfortunate ones are often a part of our weekly congregational prayers

And yet, when ever it comes to praying for and behalf of others I am reminded of the story of the widows Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi.
If you recall, Naomi prays that Ruth might find a husband to care for her.
But no sooner does she end her prayer and she begins coming up with a plan for Ruth to meet the middle-aged bachelor farmer Boaz.
It would seem to me that Naomi subscribed to the adage: Pray as if every thing depends on God, but work as if everything depends on you.

In an article entitled “Prayer is More Than Lip Service”, evangelical authors Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove write: “When we pray for God to bless anyone, we are challenged to see that we might be the hands of that blessing, for God has no hands but ours. When we pray ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done’, we commit our whole lives to caring for the least among us the unborn and the undocumented…let us also challenge ourselves to become the answer to our prayers.
When we pray for the hungry, let us remember to feed them.
When we pray for the unborn, let’s welcome single mothers, and adopt abandoned children.
When we pray for peace, let’s beat our swords into plowshares and turn military budgets into programs of social uplift.
When we pray for an end to crime, let’s visit those in prison.
When we pray for lost souls, let’s be gracious to the souls who have done us wrong.”

What I see these authors saying in light of the National Day of Prayer is that while it is a good thing to gather and pray for our nation, it is even better when our prayers are matched by our actions, when we move from the comfort and quietude of the sanctuary to the hard work of the public square with our sleeves rolled up and serving our neighbors in need.

So on this National Day of Prayer let us take time to approach God with a spirit of humility and trust, addressing our Father with the confidence that God will hear and respond to our prayers.

Let us gather with words of thanks and lives of gratitude. As the old Bible Camp song states: “They will know we are Christians by our love”—they will also know we are Christians by our gratitude and grace.

Let us gather with contrite hearts—being willing to examine our own hearts for our sins of commission as well as our sins of omission—that we might be agents of civility, hope, cooperation, and renewed trust.
May we live lives coming to the defense of our neighbor, speaking well of them and interpreting their actions in the best possible light.

And lastly, may we not only lift up our neighbors in need in prayer—but also lend them a hand.
Within our ELCA we talk about God’s work. Our hands.
It is a nice sentiment—but it is shallow if it does not move beyond mere lip service to hand on service.

God has truly blessed this land and God has truly blessed each of you here this morning—may our prayers today and everyday be prayers that that we might be a blessing to others—to the glory of God and out of love for our neighbors in need.
And this, my friends—is what makes this land a great nation.
Amen

Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran Church
Milaca, MN