Prayer Day in the Light of Our Present-Day Society

We observe Prayer Day in the midst of a society which shows more and more the signs of the end-time. What that means as God’s Word speaks of it is the great apostasy and falling away and the revelation of the man of sin.

What is the special mark of the present-day world? We can say it with one word—secularization. With that we point to a society which has departed from God and has more and more torn itself loose from its Christian roots. We see it in the diminishing of the membership in many churches and the closing of thousands of churches in the Netherlands in the past several years. We also see the increasing secularization in how we view abortion, euthanasia, sexuality, etc.

Personal prayer life

Are we able to stand at a distance and shake our heads that happily it is different in our congregations? If that is the case, we do not know ourselves. We do not recognize the fact that the winds of secularization are blowing directly through our congregations because they blow directly through our heart. We are much more affected by our secularization, by a life lived loose from God and His service, than we realize. We are all masters at pointing out the faults of others.

Where must our Prayer Day begin? It is not among our secularized society, not among this evil world, but with ourselves. Who are we before God? Must not Prayer Day begin with our personal prayer life? How is it with our secret communications with God?

How far have we already been drawn along in the movements and trends of our days? Are we examples for our young people of the tender life in the fear of the Lord?

If Christ could not exist without the hidden life with His Father, should we then be able to do without it? Are there still some among us who, through grace, show something of the image of Christ? That alone can evoke jealousy in others.

When we consider these things, where must Prayer Day begin? It must be in expressing our guilt before God. The issue is not in the first place our evil society but ourselves; we have greatly sinned against God. We have gone astray and left the paths of salvation. We have enough in ourselves. Daniel’s place is fitting for us, “We have sinned.”

What do our secularized neighbors see in us as church attendees? How do our children see us? Is it a life spent in the tender fear of the Lord, where something is visible of the love of Christ and makes others jealous, but not a life in self-righteous pride where we look down from our high perch upon a multitude which no longer knows the Law?

In the first place, let it be our prayer that the Lord would make us guilty before Him for the first time or by renewal. God’s children have to be brought to that place time and again. May the prayer of Jehoshaphat be laid in our heart by the Spirit of Christ, “For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee” (2 Chronicles 20:12b).

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