On Thursday, May3, 2012, close to 100 people gathered on the Wisconsin Capitol steps to observe the National Day of Prayer by worshipping and praying. The theme verse for this year was Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.”
Prayers for the Seven Centers of Power (government, military, church, family, education, media and business) were first offered by community leaders and then added to by groups of two or three people. When it started to rain, the whole group moved into the Capitol Rotunda. An interesting side story was the presence of the “Solidarity” group who were not allowed in the Capitol but persevered with protest songs in the rain.
The highlight of the prayer service was the singing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic in the rotunda. A testimony to the glory of God and the transforming power of His Son, Jesus, this was a welcome proclamation in a place that has seen great acrimony and divisiveness which continues even today (primary election day for the recall campaign).
Commentary
Now one would think that if there ever was a time to appeal to the Almighty through prayer today is that time. yet the participation of local churches and leaders was, in my opinion, pathetic. The question is why were so few people engaged in the National Day of Prayer on the steps of the Capitol? Could it be we have been so intimidated by the protest movement that we won’t go near the square fearing confrontation?
Or, have we lost confidence in God’s ability to solve our problems, choosing instead to trust our broken political system through recall elections? How desperate do we need to be to come together to pray for healing for our country? Apparently things are not desperate enough.