Americans Join Together in Prayer

Americans Join Together in Prayer
John R. Petrilli

Scores gathered on May 5 at the steps of the County Courthouse in downtown Syracuse for the 60th annual National Day of Prayer. The sun shone down upon Syracuse for the first rain-free day in over two weeks, and the chimes from the Cathedral church signaled that noontime had arrived. The Crossway Quartet from Trinity Baptist Church in Warners began with a rousing rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Sheriff Joel Darby led the crowd in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an opening prayer by Dr. Bruce Jones, President of the Greater Syracuse Association of Evangelicals.

Next came a fitting proclamation by Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle delivered in absentia by her Constituent Representative, Lindsay Bednarzyk. In the proclamation Buerkle recognized the significant place prayer holds in our history, and how prayer has sustained us through many difficult times. The proclamation also remembered those who are suffering from the devastation and loss of loved ones from natural disasters both home and abroad. It also also included prayer for the safety of our service men and women either at home or abroad, as well as the families of those soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. In a post-event phone interview Buerkle affirmed, “The National Day of Prayer is so important for this nation, that we recall our foundations, that we are one nation under God, we must never forget that. We commemorate the day and hold it very dear as something that’s important in our country.”

Jeff Shaver, Executive Director of Faith Heritage School, led a heartfelt prayer for our students. Phil Turner, recent pastor of the Baldwinsville Alliance Church followed with a tender prayer for the families of our community. Then Suresh Thiagarajan, Assistant Pastor of the International Assembly Church and affiliated with Syracuse University, offered up a fiery prayer for those serving in uniform at both locally and around the world. Eunhee Hertweck, Co-Pastor of Trinity Assembly of God, prayed earnestly for courage for the leaders of all levels our local, state and national governments. Keynote speaker Duane Motley from the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms shared an informative address that traced the history of prayer by and for our government, citing its roots in the time of prayer that was called during the 1775 Continental Congress. Motley shared the many advances being made by prayer, including the growing numbers of prayer times by some members of our state serving in Albany. Motley was also instrumental in encouraging former Governor George Pataki to officially recognize the National Day of Prayer. That tradition grew to attract as many as 1500 attendees at its zenith, but Motley’s attempts to carry over the practice in a substantial way have been unfavorably received by the last two governors. Motley closed with an encouraging outline citing a number of important and specific ways that prayer has changed things in our state government.

The Syracuse observance was a local expression of the annual nationwide event. The observance in Washington D.C. featured keynote speaker Joni Eareckson Tada, a speech from freshman Congressman Allen West (R- Fla.), and a performance by three-time Dove Award-winning artist Ginny Owens and worship leader Jared Anderson. Tada’s remarks addressed the anxieties Americans currently feel. "Americans are nervous; Americans are restless; and what troubles me the most is that Americans are uncharacteristically pessimistic," she said. “And boy, it doesn't help when you sit at home and watch videos of the tsunami (in Japan) and the tornadoes down South. Forty-four years of quadriplegia, I deal daily with chronic pain. And [with my] recent battle with breast cancer, I know something about uncertain times," she told the audience. "Trials are not just assaults to be withstood. No, trials are opportunities to be seized. Life becomes inspiring, not in spite of the problems and the hard hits, but because of them." Reminding the crowd that God’s in control, Tada advised the audience to refuse to give in to challenges, and instead, to think "Game On! Let's Go! Victory is within Reach!"

In an April 15 interview on with Citizenlink writer Roger Greer, Tada sounded a note of spiritual optimism and hope for the nation. “I think revival is going to sweep our land, if we Christians not only start praying as we should but start living as we should. I love where the Old Testament tells us that if we would confess our sins, we turn and repent from them, God will heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14). Revival is poised, ready to sweep our nation. But it first has to happen in our hearts. And it’s not easy to confess sins. It’s not easy to admit that you are stubborn, self-centered, full of pride, cherishing inflated ideas of your own importance, or tending to manipulate others with your precisely timed phrases. I could go on and on, but as we readily confess and be transparent and vulnerable with one another, and confess our sins to one another, not only will we be healed as the Bible says, but our nation will be healed.”
An additional highlight of the Washington D.C. event was the stirring message delivered by Rep. Allen West, a freshman Republican congressman from Florida. West stated, “When the foundations of America were attacked and destroyed on September 11, 2001 we found ourselves as a Nation doing that which is best, praying. We found ourselves doing as it says in Psalm 34:6, ‘This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.’ In our Congressional office there is a simple portrait that reminds me where great leaders find strength in times of troubles. It is a portrait which reminds me of the faith and conviction that enabled a rag tag bunch of 13 Colonies to come together and triumph. It is the portrait of General George Washington kneeling beside his horse, hands clasped, and head bowed in the snow of Valley Forge.

I know that before you can stand against the evils, trials, and challenges we all face.....we must first kneel in prayer. As we trust in God through the power of prayer we can say as it says in Romans 8:31 ‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us.’ This America is rooted in a Judeo-Christian faith tradition which finds its cornerstone of communication, prayer. Psalm 11:3 asks us a simple question, ‘If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ The answer is simple, this nation will pray when its foundations are being destroyed.”