Why We Pray

Scripture calls us to pray without ceasing, Jesus calls us to agree with one another in prayer. In Philippians 4:1-2 we find this:

"Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord" (ESV).

Beyond our differences we are called together as different parts of the same body to pray. Prayer is not a campaign, a hidden by-word for radical agendas, a time to cut one another down, it is a time for prayer.

We are urged to agree in the Lord.

Before Jesus goes to the cross we find Him praying these words in John 17: 20-23:

"20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (ESV)."

Why does Jesus call for unity? So that the world may believe that God has sent the Son. Here's what John Calvin has to say on these verses in his commentary on John:

"if the unity of the Son with the Father is not to be fruitless and useless, its power must be spread through the whole body of believers."

We are called to unity, we are called to prayer. For the second year EEN has joined with the National Association of Evangelicals and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference for a day of prayer for creation care.

Last year was focused on discovering God's commandments to care for the whole earth, this year the focus is on the unborn, who suffer from the impacts of mercury toxicity. Every state in the union has a mercury fish advisory, and up to 700,000 babies are born each year with unsafe levels of mercury toxin in their blood.

But we dare not come before the Lord just to pray our own concerns. We invite God to come and soften our hearts. To teach us His ways, to fill us with His heart for the lost, to instruct us on how we should live. On this day of prayer, we proclaim Jesus Christ, His goodness, His sovereignty, and His profound love for all that he has made.

All are invited to join with us in this day of prayer for creation care, and are asked to pray for the matters that are closest to their hearts and conscience. Find out more by visiting http://prayerforcreationcare.org.