Times are perilous. They have been ever since the first humans chose to rebel against God. With all the tension in the world today and so many people in the world who have never really been given an opportunity to know Jesus, the Heartlight.org team wants to encourage you to pray! We need "Prayer for Such a Time as This" — the theme for this year's 59th observance of the National Day of Prayer.

We encourage you to pray for your nation wherever you are! Pray for our world, for the rulers of our world, for peace, and for God to condition our world to be receptive to the good news message of Jesus and His Kingdom. Pray what is on your heart. I'd love for you to share what you are praying for on this day of prayer on my blog:

http://www.heartlight.org/thephilfiles/2010/05/04/national-day-of-prayer

Paul's words to Timothy are a fitting reminder on this special day of prayer!

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity — the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time (1 Timothy 2:1-6 NLT).

Let's remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters the world over!

For those in the U.S., we encourage you to check out the resources on the National Day of Prayer at the following website:
http://nationaldayofprayer.org

For all of us, let's also remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters the world over by checking out the resources available on the Persecuted Church:
http://www.persecutedchurch.org