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Need for prayer more evident in today’s uncharted territory
Posted: Friday, May 8, 2009 9:10 pm
By GLENDA H. CAUDLE
Special Features Editor
“Our nation is at a crossroads. We are treading in uncharted territory and Americans are finding solace in faith and the need to pray,” Derick B. Ziegler told Obion Countians gathered at their courthouse in Union City Thursday at noon.
The occasion was the annual National Day of Prayer observance, sponsored in this area by the Obion County Ministerial Association.
Ziegler, the chief executive officer of Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union City, was attending his first such prayer event locally, having moved here with his family from Hawaii in August 2008. At that time, he had just retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army, where he served in a variety of senior health care administration roles over a 23-year career.
“I ask for special prayer today for those who defend freedom and our way of life. These true heroes place themselves in harm’s way daily to protect the way of life we hold dear,” Ziegler said. He added that in years past in his role as Deputy Commander for Administration and Chief of Staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, he had frequently met the incoming wounded from Iraq who were shipped out to the hospital for medical treatment. Often, he said, these soldiers were clutching Bibles or other religious publications in their hands as they came into the hospital, sometimes fresh from the field of battle. “God empowers us and gives us strength through prayer. I know because I saw first hand the power of prayer at work every day in that hospital. As I walked beside (wounded soldiers) as they came into the hospital, I would remind them that God was watching over them. They said they knew they were alive because of prayer. God responds powerfully.”
A military “brat” himself, Ziegler told the crowd he had moved with his family 11 times during his elementary and high school years and the church had been his saving grace, “my very anchor.” He urged those attending to pray for their own churches, that they would be places where people could be “anchored” as well, and he encouraged intercession for military families, prayers for comfort for families whose loved ones have fallen during their service and heartfelt petitions for the chaplains, that they might represent God to their comrades in arms.
A CEO himself, he talked about the need for constant prayer for local business and industry leaders and for all elected officials, that they might all conduct themselves with honesty and integrity. And he noted that educators should be lifted up in prayer for “patience, wisdom and perseverance.”
“The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is the one day of the year we come together to recognize that we have a God in complete control who will not forsake us — the God we pray to today and every day,” Ziegler said in closing.
Dr. David Russell, pastor of Union City First United Methodist Church, welcomed those who gathered on the courthouse lawn and later directed them, following Ziegler’s remarks, to choose a specific prayer group from those that took up prayer places around the exterior of the building.
The Rev. Judd Mowery from Troy United Methodist Church led the group in the pledge to the American and Christian flags as they stood before the entrance to the courthouse.
The Rev. Rick Bell, minister of education at Union City Second Baptist Church, led the opening prayer and Micah Harbison, student minister at Second Baptist Church, played his guitar and sang “If My People” and later led those attending in “God Bless America.”
Prayer groups who closed the service were led by the Rev. Tommy Hall from First Assembly of God in Union City, who focused on families, schools and churches; the Rev. Richard Cortese from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Union City, who held up the military; the Rev. Jerry Leggett, associate pastor at Second Baptist Church, who focused prayerful attention on national leaders; and Russell, who covered local and state leaders in prayer.
National Day of Prayer is observed the first Thursday in May. Its task force mission is to “communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: government, military, media, business, education, church and family,” according to a Web site dedicated to the observance, which is in its 58th year. Created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, the observance was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman as an opportunity for people of all faiths to pray for the nation.
The task force represents a Judeo-Christian expression of the national observance, based on the group’s understanding that “this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.”
A spokesman noted that people with other theological and philosophical views are free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. “This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate,” a statement on the task force Web site says.
Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson, was chairman of the prayer observance. Beth Moore, author and Bible teacher, served as honorary chairman for the event, whose theme was “Prayer … America’s Hope.” The scripture basis for National Day of Prayer was Psalm 33:22, “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”
Published in The Messenger 5.8.09
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National Day of Prayer, Obion County
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