May 7, 2015 - "National" Prayer Day

I received an email a few days ago reminding me that today, May 7^th, is National Prayer Day.
This made me start thinking.

First of all, I asked myself … “Do I pray for the Nation on National Prayer Day?”
Or … “Do I pray as a Nation on National Prayer Day?”

I realized I needed to understand more about the words “Nation” and “National”.

From Merriam Webster:
National (adj) so that tells me already that it describes something to be prayed for.

·         of and/or relating to a nation

·         belonging to or maintained by the federal government

·         of, relating to, or being a coalition government formed by most or all major political parties: usually in a crisis

Nation (noun) so this is tells me this is what I am considering praying for.

·         a large area of land that is controlled by its government

·         the nation: the people who live in a nation

·         tribe: a group of people joined by history, tradition and language

Interesting … I had to ask myself at this point where these words came from.

Etymology is something I love.  To find the origins of words, I feel is enlightening.

Nationality originated as a noun.

·         1690s: A fact of belong to or being a citizen of a particular state.

·         1828:  Shading into race or ethnicity; meaning separate existence as a nation is recorded from 1832.

Nation originated as a noun.

c. 1300, from Old French nacion "birth, rank; descendants, relatives; country, homeland" (12c.) and directly from Latin nationem (nominative natio) "birth, origin; breed, stock, kind, species; race of people, tribe," literally "that which has been born," from natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci). Political sense has gradually predominated, but earliest English examples inclined toward the racial meaning "large group of people with common ancestry." Older sense preserved in application to North American Indian peoples (1640s). Nation-building first attested 1907 (implied in nation-builder).

I then felt inclined to find the same about the word “Prayer”.
Definition: an address (as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought
Etymology: c. 1300, from Old French prier "prayer, petition, request" (12c., Modern French prière), from Medieval Latin precaria "petition, prayer," noun use of Latin adjective precaria, fem. of precarius "obtained by prayer, given as a favor," from precari "to ask, beg, pray"

Regarding how to pray and/or what to pray for, I began to seek out the teachings of Jesus.  I have not found that he taught to pray so much for specifics.
In John 11 when the disciples asked Jesus to tell them how to pray as John taught. This was his answer:
² He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
*It doesn’t seem here that he taught us to pray for anything in particular but to pray to the Father for ourselves.  Pray that we have food, that we are forgiven of our sins so that we are in the right place to forgive those who we see or feel are sinning.  We are also to pray not to be lead into temptation….
To me this is simple and to the point.

Matthew 6
Prayer

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Again simplicity and directness.  We are to pray in private: that which is between us and the Father.
Again, it is about us as individuals.  We are to pray that we are in the right place first and foremost.

There is nothing here about us taking a place of judgment in praying for one thing or another but, simply to pray and we are given the prayer to pray … it sounds like for all situations.

Back to “National Prayer Day”.  Is this in accordance with the teachings of Jesus to pray in open for anything specific? Or is it that we should be praying every day for ourselves so that we are in the correct place within our hearts to be one with God?

Should we pray as a nation? Should we pray for our nation?
Probably not … I feel we should pray for ourselves and trust God knows our needs.

The 1^st 4 books of the Old Testament are basically the Torah or The Law of the Jewish Faith.
Within this place and aspect, there is that where “God” announced himself to Moses.  He didn’t say “I am God. I am Allah. Or anything else…” He said, “I AM that I AM.”

When I pray, I pray to the Great I AM that I AM for I feel that it limits the I AM to put a name, gender or any other such aspect.

I pray on this day and every day The Prayer as was taught by Jesus.  I do this privately in my heart and soul.  I do this with my head held high looking towards the I AM and I welcome this presence into every aspect of my existence.

The rest of the email (in bold) I received was this:

The message  below was received  a few days ago, but we still need to be praying for the Supreme Court Justices' deliberations and decisions on same-sex marriage. 
* I ask myself if this is what Jesus taught and the answer is “no”.  Jesus mentioned and taught on homosexuality “0” times.

And Thursday, May 7, is the National Day of Prayer.   

On that day, please pray for  wisdom, justice discernment, and honesty in our government; for protection for our military men and women and their families; for our media; for our children, our teachers, and our educational system; for our police officers, firemen and all first responders; for businesses and our economy; for persecuted
 * I ask myself if this is what Jesus taught and the answer is “no”.

Christians in our country and all over the world;  for all aspects of our everyday lives, and for the spiritual revival of this country.
* I ask myself if this is what Jesus taught and the answer is “no”.  There is nothing in his teachings regarding praying for our world, nation, etc.  

May America bless God, and may we all be on our knees asking for forgiveness for this country's turning away from God and allowing so much evil to become the "norm" in  the United States of America. 
* I ask myself if this is what Jesus taught and the answer is “no”. 
* I ask myself why just America? And, why “God”? Why not the I AM as to not limit the presence?

I will pray without ceasing on this day and every day and in doing so will pray in private between me and the I AM.  I will pray as instructed by Jeshua.  I pray the prayer as taught by Jeshua and will meditate in like quietness with an open heart. 

 The email I received also came complete with Bible verses.
2 Chronicles: 7:14    ^14" if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 
This is from the originator of the email: This promise was made to Israel, but if we truly have the right to be called Christians, I believe we can claim the promise too, but we must follow all of the instructions given in the scripture.

Chronicles is thought by scholars to be written by Ezra and is seen by Jewish scholars as midrash (traditional Jewish commentary).

If you reading 2 Chronicles 7, you find that this verse is taken from a conversation from the I AM and Solomon at the building of Solomon’s Temple. *This is Old Testament view complete with sacrifices.
The Lord Appears to Solomon

¹¹ When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, ¹² the Lord appeared to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

¹³ “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

The next Bible verse included:
Proverbs 21:1   "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he will."    
Again, from the email originator: And that means that the heart of any leader can be changed by God.

*Proverbs is written by King Solomon and he is speaking in poetry form of himself, saying his heart is in the hand of the Lord.  It is a beautiful passage written in the manner of one who has placed the I AM first in all he does.  This is not referring to the heart of any leader but the heart of any person if that person chooses to place the I AM first and to allow.  

 
I am asked always and this reminds me of this: “Are you willing to place your will within the will of the Great I AM?”  And, the answer is, as always, “Yes.”

I would encourage anyone who loves beauty to read Proverbs 21 for yourself but, please read it in its entirety. 

I love the aspect and the quality of prayer and I honor those who offer their prayers without ceasing.  I respect and honor private prayer and private meditation for our relationship with the I AM is our own as individuals.

Shalom Aleichem