Call for National Fasting and Prayer Attacked

Texas Governor Rick Perry has called for a national day of fasting and prayer to ask God to bless the United States in its current crisis. This call has been opposed and derided by many. Does fasting make a difference to God?

Texas governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry finds himself in the middle of a controversy doing something many American leaders have done during the nation’s history: proclaiming a day of fasting and prayer to ask for God’s blessing and guidance on the country. In June the governor called for Aug. 6 to be “a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our troubled nation.” He has faced vocal opposition for doing so.

Predictably, political opponents accuse him of being insincere, of calculating the timing and the nature of such an event simply to improve his chances of winning the nation’s top office.

Others oppose the very idea of an official day of prayer, never mind fasting. A lawsuit filed by “separation of church and state” groups (note, by the way that this phrase is nowhere found in the U.S. Constitution) led a federal judge on April 14, 2010, to strike down a 1952 statute that created a “National Day of Prayer.” This judgment was appealed, and earlier this year the appellate court vacated the previous ruling, making the National Day of Prayer legal once again.

We mustn’t pray to the Christian God

But most of the controversy facing Governor Perry has centered on the fact that he has publicly called for fasting and prayer to the Christian God. The website for the prayer event, called “the Response,” to be held in a stadium in Houston, Texas, states clearly: “Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.”

This has led to a variety of groups complaining of being excluded or even targeted. The homosexual rights group Human Rights Campaign, for example, complains that the event is supported by churches that take a clear stand against homosexuality.

A call such as the one issued by Governor Perry would not have been as controversial even a few years ago. But now we witness on a daily basis an alliance of disparate groups who, for their own reasons, want Christianity completely removed from our public life. The principle of freedom of religion on which the United States was founded is becoming freedom from religion, most especially Christianity. (On the topic of the United States as a Christian nation, it is enlightening to read the documentation in a 1905 book by Supreme Court associate justice David Josiah Brewer, The United States a Christian Nation, which is available as a free e-book.)

The United States is, in fact, facing serious national problems: crumbling families, violent domestic crime, international terrorist groups dedicated to killing as many Americans as possible, involvement in several wars at the same time, and the worst economic crisis and the highest unemployment figures we have seen in decades. Yet there is strident opposition to calling on the Judeo-Christian God through national fasting and prayer. This would have shocked and dismayed America’s founding fathers.

God responds to fasting and prayer

There are many examples in the Bible of fasting and prayer to God. This is enjoined to be practiced privately (Matthew 6:16-18) and, in times of national or Church need, publicly (Joel 1:13-14; Acts 13:3).

Fasting is sometimes called “afflicting one’s soul,” a sign of humility and the recognition of one’s need for God and His intervention. If the United States as a nation would humble itself before God in this manner, God would hear and respond. The Bible shows that He has honored the prayer and fasting of even the most wicked people.

God sent the prophet Jonah to warn the city of Nineveh that it was to be destroyed for its wickedness. Amazingly, “the people of Nineveh believed God” and proclaimed a fast (Jonah 3:5). The result? “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (verse 10).

The most evil of the Israelite kings, Ahab, was told he would face terrible divine retribution for his foul deeds. He fasted to God, and God then said: “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house” (1 Kings 21:29).

Will there be true national repentance?

In our present national distress and in the face of dire punishments prophesied for the nation in years to come, God holds open a way to forgiveness and relief. It is by humbly seeking the intervention of the true and living God whom the world needs to come to know, and striving to obey His law. It is through true national repentance. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:18-19).

A national day of sincere fasting and prayer to seek God’s forgiveness and blessing would be an excellent beginning.

However, looking at history and at the rapid decline in morality and belief in the Bible, it seems unlikely the United States or any nation will truly repent during this end-time of human misrule of the earth. Prophecy tells us humanity will come to the brink of self-destruction, when Jesus Christ promises to return to save us from ourselves. All will finally come to fully understand the significance of fasting and the importance of real repentance when the Kingdom of God is established on earth. Read more about this in The Mystery of the Kingdom.

Joel Meeker is a pastor and writer. He and his wife, Marjolaine, and two adult daughters live near Cincinnati, Ohio.