We go to a prayer meeting

National Day of Prayer, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California
We were running late. Mindy got off work just fifteen minutes before the National Day of Prayer gathering began, and we didn’t have good information about where on Fresno Pacific University’s campus the event was being held. The red, white, and blue balloons helped --we were reminded of trying to find a new polling place: it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye out for patriotic bunting.

Fresno Pacific University was founded by the Mennonite Brethren back in 1944. It’s not huge, but isn’t tiny either, with a student body of 4000 undergraduates and postgraduates on a 42-acre campus with 16 buildings (a number of which are chapels.) But we eventually found the well-populated meeting room. We weren’t as late as we feared we’d be, and according to the program we picked up as we entered, there was plenty of time left to pray.

The National Day of Prayer, observed the first Thursday of May, was enacted by the United States Congress back in 1952. Since then, every president has signed an annual proclamation urging prayer on this day.

There were several midday gatherings in Fresno, but with our work schedules, this was the only one we could attend. Soon after we sat down, Pastor Josh introduced a prayer of confession on behalf of our community and nation with a reference the Biblical book of Daniel. He mentioned that Daniel was one of the very rare figures in the Old Testament whose sin is not detailed. Moses and David were murderers, Abraham and Jacob were liars, Joseph was a braggart, Noah a drunkard, Samson was...what didn’t Samson do wrong?

Daniel on the other hand, in the very difficult situation of being dragged from his homeland as a slave, seemed to do everything right. But in his prayer, recorded in Daniel 9:5, he said, “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled; we have turned away from your commandments and laws.” Following that example, we were urged to pray for our nation as fellow sinners.

We were asked to pray in the small groups that had been formed before, but since we’d missed that part, Pastor Angulus joined Mindy, our son Bret, and me. The room was filled with the sound of pleas for forgiveness.

A woman named Kathy introduced the theme verse for this year’s National Day of Prayer, Ephesians 4:3, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

This verse seemed particularly relevant in our polarized times, but when I looked around the room, I could see how truly people with differences were coming together. We were a group with a wide variety of ethnicities, races, and ages. The program made it clear that there were pastors from a number of churches. I’d also venture to guess that not everyone in the room voted the same way in 2016 or would vote the same way this coming November, yet we were joining together as people of one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

One portion of the meeting was specific prayer that different ethnicities and races in our nation would come together. The speaker leading that portion pointed out that diversity was God’s idea -- in Revelation 7:9, people of every nation, tribe, people group, and language pray before the Throne of God. That bit of the God’s Kingdom to come is something we need to bring to earth now.

I enjoyed how the congregation was called to pray with different styles. “All right, now let’s pray popcorn style” with people praying short, one or two sentence, prayers.

“Let’s pray Korean style” meant we all prayed aloud, creating a rumble of prayer going to heaven. (It reminded me of martial arts films when fighters choose “Monkey Fist Style” or “Eagle Claw Style.” I may very well be the only person in the room who was reminded of this.)

The only sour note came during one of the popcorn prayers as we prayed for the communities of Fresno and Clovis. Someone prayed, “Lord, the greatest plague in our community is caused by drinking wine and beer which only leads to drunkenness.” To me, the prayer made as little sense as praying about the great plague caused by cutlery, which only leads to murderous knife fights. Almost all the other prayers that evening seemed to have an underlying sense of humility; this one had the tone of Pharisee of Jesus’ parable who thanks God he is not like the sinner praying next to him.

“Those who are able” were asked to kneel to ask for God’s protection, for security for our community and our nation. We rose to pray for a spiritual awakening for our nation. We joined our voices to sing praise to the name of Jesus. And we held hands before we went out, praying that the unity we had in that room would go forth in the community and the nation.

So whether you pray Popcorn Style or Korean Style, aloud or silently, Monkey Fist or Eagle Claw, I would urge you, too, to pray that God will bring this country, this world, His unity and peace.