The National Day of Prayer (NDP) for the US is 7 May 2009. In spite of the recent stepping down of Dr Dobson and his wife Shirley Dobson, it appears that Mrs Dobson is still the chairman of the NDP committee this year. However, Beth Moore is also named the honorary chairman on their web site.
From their website, you can click on “What do I Pray For?” which takes you to a page called “Why We Pray”. It describes pretty well the history of prayer in this country, but I don’t thing they really address the question of why to pray or what to pray for. The closest thing to answers to those questions are really on the 2009 Prayer for Our Nation page.
In the past, the NDP has generally been ignored by most of the Churches of God, at least to my knowledge. For some, this may be due to the fact that it is mostly Protestant Evangelicals who have pushed the NDP. However, the NDP is not only not officially Evangelical, it isn’t even officially Christian. Granted, the NDP Task Force comes from an Evangelical viewpoint, but their FAQ page points out that it is a “government-proclaimed day” for “all Americans, regardless of religion, to celebrate their faith.”
Another reason may be because of reluctance to be involved in “the world”. This certainly is a valid concern, but what if the people of Nineveh decided to not get involved?
Let me ask you a couple of more direct questions: Do you believe God wants us to pray for our country and its leaders (1Ti 2:1-2)? Do you believe God wants us to pray for national repentance (1Ki 8:30)?