We should ‘pray without ceasing’

“Pray without ceasing,” was the advice I was given when my youngest son’s Arizona National Guard unit was activated and deployed to Iraq 17 years ago.

Those words from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 have been my go-to prayer ever since.

Pray. Without. Ceasing. Never more true than today.

The Bible was named recently in a national magazine’s list of 21 Classic Books not worth reading. “Those who have read it know there are some good parts, but overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced,” was part of what the list compilers wrote.

Pray. Without. Ceasing.

There are eight days until the National Day of Prayer, held annually on the first Thursday of May inviting people of all faiths to pray for our nation.

Estimates are that more than 2 million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers last year.

Locally, the Dale Baptist Association and the Enterprise Ministerial Alliance have planned events commemorating the call to prayer and everyone is encouraged to attend

The 14th Annual Bible Reading Marathon begins in front of the Dale County Courthouse in Ozark Sunday, April 29. Volunteers of all denominations from all communities will read through the entire Bible during the round-the-clock event which ends at noon on May 3, the National Day of Prayer.

A National Day of Prayer breakfast with a Fort Rucker Chaplain as keynote speaker is being held May 3 at 6:30 a.m. at the Ozark First United Methodist Church.

The Enterprise City Hall is again the location of the Enterprise Ministerial Association’s National Day of Prayer commemoration which begins at noon May 3. Everyone is invited to attend.

The Supreme Court affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer in 1983. Our city councils and school board meetings begin with prayer as a public acknowledgment of the power of prayer.

We are a praying community. “When we say we will pray for you, we really mean it,” is the way one Enterprise Board of Education member put it after another requested prayer.

Historians know that this country was founded in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.

Unity is the theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer. “Making every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,” is this year’s chosen verse.

“The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it,” the “21 Books” list-makers wrote in their critique.

Just an afterthought worth pondering.

Michelle Mann is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].