Thursday was the National Day of Prayer. Throughout the day, all across our country, people gathered in churches and other public places to take the time to pray.

We have prayed for our country, for our world and for ourselves.

I am certain that there are some who see this day as a political event. Some oppose it, and others support it, for that very reason. Many have no idea when and how this came about. It was in 1952 that a joint resolution of Congress was signed by President Harry Truman to create this day. But as early as 1775 the Continental Congress had urged people to pray for wisdom in the creation of a new nation.

From time to time we argue and fret over laws and rulings that have outlawed prayer in certain places (particularly our schools). But as I heard recently, you can still pray in school. And I assure you of this. As long as they teach algebra there will be prayer in schools. There may not be prayer assemblies, but you cannot prohibit the kind of prayer that flows from an unprepared heart as that test is distributed to the students.

But seriously, prayer is such an essential aspect of life as a believer. Jesus said we ought always to pray, and Paul reminded us to pray without ceasing. Prayer is as simple as just talking to God. But it goes so much deeper.

May I encourage you to be more faithful to pray? You don’t have to pray for hours at a time, though you can. But regularly, daily, both publicly and privately, we need to pray.

We cannot explain all that is true of prayer, but we can say this with assurance. God hears and answers the prayers of His children. We don’t always get exactly what we want. But we can know that our heavenly Father is interested in our needs.

Don’t wait to pray until it’s so bad that there is nothing else to do. Pray first. Trust the Lord. He will hear. He will respond. You can count on him.