Power - authority - is an amazing thing. It is less understood than perhaps, we imagine. Its reach, I'm convinced, extends more broadly than we think.

We gather today in observance of the National Day of Prayer. It is a day set apart by joint resolution of Congress in 1952. The resolution called upon each President to set aside one day each year when people "may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals." The first Thursday in May was designated as the National Day of Prayer by President Ronald Regan in 1988. It is a day declared by our nation's leaders as a day to pause, recognize our collective need for God, allegiance to Him, and to make petitions for His continued blessing. Today, with the unanimous approval of the Mayor and City council members, we pause, here, in the seat of local government, to pray for our leaders, our nation and our community.

We are perhaps familiar with the biblical prayers of such great leaders such as King David, King Solomon, Jehosaphat and Hezekiah who humbled themselves and brought the nation's needs before Jehovah God.

We are perhaps less familiar with the prayers and call to prayer by leaders of our own nation in more recent times. I refer to the words of President Abraham Lincoln:

"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord…

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."

And to the words of General "Stonewall" Jackson written to his pastor, ironically, in May of 1863:

"When in the Valley there was much religious interest among my troops, and I trust that is has not died out. It appears to me that we should look for a great work of grace among our troops, officers and privates, for our army has been made the subject of prayer by all denominations of Christians in the Confederacy…. I am very grateful for your prayers and the prayers of other Christian friends. Continue to pray for me. I wish I could be with you in the church and lecture room, whenever our people meet to worship God….Let us work and pray that our people may be the nation whose God is the Lord."

A similar example of our heritage of praying leaders is General Robert E. Lee.

"Let us humble ourselves before the Lord our God, asking through Christ, the forgiveness of sins, beseeching the aid of the God of our forefathers in the defense of our homes and our liberties, thanking Him for his past blessings, and imploring their continuance upon our cause and our people. Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray-really pray.

Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight-all through the day. Let us pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word 'concern' out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice."

The list is long of National and State leaders who have prayed and called for prayer.

It works.

When four years of drought struck the State of Alabama between 1984 and 1988, Governor Hunt, a former Baptist pastor, called on Alabamians to join a statewide day of prayer. They did. In less than 48 hours, ran began and continued for ten days-some days delivering as much as 8 inches! The four year drought was broken and the State relieved.

Entire nations can be changed by praying leaders. In closing days of 1999, while Americans and most of the Western World waited for their computers to crash and airplanes to fall from the sky, the ravaged country of Uganda, East Africa was preparing for another sort of fall.

Idi Amin, "Uganda's Hitler", had demoralized the country during his reign of terror. It was estimated that HIV/AIDS had affected a majority of the population. The Ugandan economy was non-existent and corruption was prevalent at every level of government. The new president and his wife, realizing the nation's need for Divine intervention, called on its pastors to draft a written covenant with God in which sin would be acknowledge, forgiveness sought and God's blessed presence requested.

On the eve of the new millennium, tens of thousands of Ugandans cried out to God. There was agonizing prayer. The President and his wife attended. The pastors read their written covenant stating that "for the next 1000 years, Uganda would be devoted to God!"

Today, Uganda's economy is one of the fastest growing in the entire continent of Africa. A continent roughly 5 times the size of the USA. The World Monetary Fund and the International Monetary Fund are favorable pleased with Uganda's near reversal of corruption. The World Health Organization has noted that Uganda is the only nation in the entire world that is realizing a fall in the rate of HIV/AIDS infections! This is the fall Ugandans had hoped for….the fall of evil and the rise of godliness.

Prayer works.

Today, though we pray for our leaders, we recognize that nothing can replace or supplant the prayers of our leaders.

We, your citizenry, your neighbors, your friends and family happily participate in this hour of petition for you. Likewise, we eagerly covet your faithful commitment to practice the same on our behalf.

Power - authority -- is an amazing thing. Your positions of leadership seem to hold sway not only in the seen, but in the unseen. The reach of your authority may be much broader than you have imagined. Your responsibility is great before God and man. To whom much is given, much is required. This is no small task. Therefore we intercede on your behalf and on behalf of national leaders with our prayers today.

Father,
We ask You bless Mayor Clifton, Vice Mayor Alvin Evans, Aldermen Bob Daniel, Jimmy Dobson, Dwight Osborn, John Davenport, Alderwoman Elsie Crawford, Police Chief Tony Day and Fire Chief Johnny Perkins. We pray You provide each with wisdom beyond their experience, vision for our future and courage to stand for all that is right before God.

Amen.