Prayer: Communal, Concentrated, Concise, Coordinated, and Consistent
Please note: This writing is not my usual pious diatribe; it is a call to definite action.
“What sort of a day was it, a day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times.[1]” It was an unforgettable time, an historic time, a time that would leave its mark on the people for generations.
What Day was it, today, May 31, (AD) 2020, Pentecost, the Feast of Shavuot? No . . . and yes.
NO. It was the 15th day of the seventh Hebrew month, Tishrei, shortly after the Feast of Shavuot. The year was about 950, BC. King Solomon was in the process of dedicating his long-awaited Temple. As recorded in 2 Chronicles 6, King Solomon lead all the assembled priests and people in a dedicatory prayer. In that prayer, Solomon pledged before God all the many godly acts that the people of Israel would do and would continue to do from that day forward.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3a recounts what happened next.
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground . . .
It was God’s turn to speak, and speak He did through a prophesy given to Solomon.
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. 2 Chronicles 7:14. NIV.
However, . . .
However, the people, and even Solomon, himself, failed to keep their pledge. Evil befell their land. Within a generation, the people split the Kingdom in twain. Within 200 years, conquering armies deported the Northern 76% of the Ancient Kingdom – never again to be an historical entity. In another 150 years, a different great power dragged to captivity the remainder of the Ancient Kingdom, eventually, destroying the very Temple itself.
YES. The Day is, indeed, AD 2020, the 31st day of May, and evil has overtaken our land threatening to devour it, and us as the he-goat devours the grass. As with the Ancient Kingdom, two conquerors march toward our gates – two viruses. The First is novelle – Covid-19, a physical virus for which we have neither vaccine nor remedy, yet of which we ignorantly evince no fear.
The Second, perhaps the more dangerous, is not novelle at all. It is a spiritual virus as old as Father Adam. It is a virus that eats away our humanity as gangrene eats away infected flesh. It is a virus that burns white-hot within us as fear of, and hatred for, the other searing sensibilities until we no longer feel. It is a virus that stabs our soul with selfishness as the evil-doer’s pike pierces the heart of his prey, draining away the very life-blood.
As those of old, we have lost our way and cannot find it. Now, we find ourselves in dire and desperate need of a Guide, a Compass, a Map, and a Rescuer, to all intents and purposes, lost and hopeless.
But, . . .
There is a way out, a street to safety, a guide to grace. It’s always been there, available to us as a gift. It is the Wisdom that not even “Solomon in all his glory” could have imagined, simple, yet requiring an act of unearthly courage.
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. 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Observe, here’s what I promise God to do, and I ask you to join me.
God leads me to ask a group of people to engage in prayer: Communal, Concentrated, Concise, Coordinated, and Consistent
The prayer should be a simple, brief prayer,
- Once a day,
- At a specific hour of your choosing, and
- In addition to, and not intended to supplant, other prayer times, nor to substitute for church attendance in whatever manner that is presently taking place.
The prayer should be a supplication for
- Ourselves,
- Our fellow citizens, and
- Our leaders at all levels of religion and government.
The specifics of the prayer would be that we all would know the mind of God in two matters:
- Addressing the virus of Covid-19 and
- Addressing the virus of violence, division, hatred, and selfishness.
Would you covenant to so engage at the appropriate time, and to Stop, Look, and Listen?
- Stop whatever activity in which you are engaged,
- Look to God in prayer, and
- Listen for what He will say, and listen to that which others are saying.
Would you step forward and courageously take loving and affirmative action based upon God’s answer and instruction to each of us?
Would you make an appeal for such prayer to leaders and congregants of all Christian denominations and all faiths? Non-believers may join-in by agreeing to observe a time of silence and contemplation on these two matters in place of prayer.
I submit, based upon God’s promise in 2 Chronicles, that if we pray, God will do the rest. From Heaven, He will hear our prayer, He will heal our land, and He will reveal:
- Himself,
- His purposes, and
- His ways.
He will show the way forward revealing how we can partner with Him, with each other, and with all willing people of every tribe and every nation to bring about our rescue.
So let it be written, so let it be done.
[1] Sign-off line, CBS Television, “You Are There,” 1953-1972, hosted by Walter Cronkite,
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