National Day of Prayer

As some of you may know, yesterday was the 57th annual National Day of Prayer. Big deal right? Well...kinda yes, kinda no. We don't need a nationally sponsored day to pray. (Thankfully.) But it is nice the government has and continues to recognize prayer.

But enough politics (for now anyway). Our pastors thought it would be fun to take advantage of the National Day of Prayer by serving the neighborhood in prayer. The best way to do that effectively is to actually go out into the neighborhood and ask what's on people's hearts. So that's just what we did. About a dozen of us got into groups of two's and and three's each taking a street to knock on people's doors and ask how we could serve them in prayer. We didn't phrase it like that, but the conversation typically went something like this:

Me: Hi. My name is Bernt and this is Chris and we're from Hiawatha church (which is about two blocks that way). Being today is the National Day of Prayer, a group of us decided to go out to the neighborhood and take down any prayer requests people have, then go back to the church and pray. Do you have any prayer requests that you'd like us to add?

—Person: Hmm...no. (Hesitating) Not that I can think of.

Chris: Any health issues or specific people to pray for?

—Person. No...I think I'm ok. I don't need any. Thanks though.

Me: Ok. Well thank you for your time and enjoy your night.

Chris and I would usually take turns taking the lead but I think you get the picture.

So in a nutshell, that's how we handled a couple of blocks worth of homes. As for some of the more specific requests, health and the war in Iraq seemed to be #1. The most open person we talked with had recently been laid off after 45 years of work with the same organization. She was hurting and near tears. Our hearts went out to her and told her we'd be praying. I hope to see her on Sunday and pray God would use the pain in her life to draw her to Him.

I really enjoyed the time getting to see the faces of those in the neighborhood. Even if they "weren't interested" they are all on my prayer list.



Because the war in Iraq seemed to be on people's minds and those who want our troops out traditionally support the Democrat side, this picture came to mind. Even though Obama's going to eventually win the Democratic Nomination, here's a way Barack and Hillary could stop campaigning against each other:


Enjoy your weekend!

—b