The First Option

God is calling us to come before Him and call out to Him in prayer. A passage from 1st Timothy chapter 2 describes Jesus as our Mediator - through Him we can come before God:
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle--I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying--a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

It's the National Day of Prayer, and today, we can think about how Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, came to earth in human form through His Son, Jesus Christ, to invite men and women to trust in Him and enter into a relationship with Him.  One of the dynamics of that relationship is the ability to communicate with Him.  We can confidently come before Him, lifting up praises, presenting our requests, and listening as He speaks to us and gives wisdom and instruction for our lives.  We access the power of God as we pray.

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It's important that we develop a mindset in which we view prayer as our first option, not just something we try to see what happens, but something that we confidently do, knowing that something will happen. James 5 encourages us in this vibrant prayer walk:
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

It's the National Day of Prayer, and it's also Survey Thursday.   Last year, to correlate with that special day, Pew Research published a piece called, 5 Facts About Prayer.  

One of those facts involved the establishment of the National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer was enacted in 1952 by the Congress and President Harry S. Truman. The piece surmises that, "As with the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, the move came during the Cold War and was seen as a way of contrasting the more religious United States with the officially atheistic Soviet Union."  I have to say, that is certainly an interesting theory.

And, in an aside here, in 1988, according to the National Day of Prayer Task Force website, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the designation of the first Thursday in May as the annual observance for the National Day of Prayer. Then in 1998, President Clinton signed a bill that stated, "The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals."

Now, back to the Pew article. Another of those 5 facts about prayer is that:

For many Americans, every day is a day of prayer. More than half (55%) of Americans said they pray every day, according to a 2013 Pew Research survey, while 23% said they pray weekly or monthly and 21% seldom or never. Even among those who are religiously unaffiliated, 21% said they pray daily. 

The article references another survey, from 2012, which found that 76% of Americans agreed with the statement “prayer is an important part of my daily life,” a percentage that has remained relatively stable over the last 25 years.

And, there was a reference to a A 2010 USA Today/Gallup poll that asked Americans specifically about the National Day of Prayer. A majority (57%) said they favored having the day of prayer, while just 5% said they opposed it. A significant share (38%) said it didn’t matter to them either way.

You may have already participated in a prayer-related event today.  There has certainly been no shortage of opportunities.  I want to highlight three words relative to prayer for today:

One of those is access.  Because of Jesus and His sacrifice, we have been granted access to come before the throne of God.  When you think about the Great God of the Universe allowing human beings to call on Him and communicate with Him, we short-change ourselves when we don't take advantage of this incredible opportunity.  

Another word is priority.  We might have the access, but we cannot experience the answers if we don't take the initiative to actually pray - to elevate the practice in our daily routine.   This can take upon itself different forms, but the important thing is to recognize that we can communicate with Him, and that He is communicating with us - we can present our requests and listen for His instruction.  

And, finally, there's fervency.  This can describe our attitude in prayer.  James 5 says that, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  If we believe that human effort can be effective for the challenges we face individually, or collectively in our communities, we are kidding ourselves.   I believe incredible things can happen as we respond to His call to consistently cry out to Him.