National Day of Prayer

It was a small gathering at Stephen Field Bicentennial Monument for the National Day of Prayer this morning.   The Men of Armstrong UMC showed up to add our prayers and support to this traditional day.  My memory fades but I believe Fred and Lois Owlett encouraged a prayer vigil at the Old Chapel for the entire day.  I also remember attending prayer breakfasts downtown around this time also.

The U.S. is an outlier according to the Pew Research Center:

I remember reading Will and Ariel Durant's book The Lessons of History -  in Chapter VII (Religion and History) they end the chapter (paraphrased) - as long as there is poverty, religion will flourish.  Clearly Will and Ariel felt History did not support a belief in a "personal" God and  therefore the need to pray: 

“Does history support a belief in God? If by God we mean not the creative vitality of nature but a supreme being intelligent and benevolent, the answer must be a reluctant negative.”

—Will & Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History (1968)   see ffrf.org 

Yet - why does the majority of the world pray?  Why is hope embedded into the soul of human nature?  Conversely why does wealth correlate inversely with prayer?   

I like Patrick Morley's quote in his book "How GOD makes Men:  "Suffering compels us to seek the God that success makes us think we don't need"     Wealth is the illusion of independence from GOD yet that very distance extinguishes the very significance the heart yearns to achieve.