c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Guy Maxcy, a commissioner for Highlands County, Fla., says he can feel the difference when citizens are praying for him.

“I can say it works, I know that,” said Maxcy, who is coordinating an “Adopt-a-Leader” luncheon in Sebring, Fla., as part of Thursday’s National Day of Prayer celebrations.

The theme of the 54th annual National Day of Prayer is “God Shed His Grace on Thee,” and millions of evangelical Christians are expected to participate at gatherings around the country. The effort goes beyond a single day because believers are encouraged to “adopt” an elected or appointed official at the local, state or federal level to pray for him or her throughout the year.

Critics have long maintained the National Day of Prayer’s real intent is to mobilize religious conservatives for political action. Proponents deny that charge, saying it’s just one part of a larger prayer movement that includes the Global Day of Prayer, a unifying event for Christians across continents, and Prayer for the Persecuted Church, in which prayer is focused on countries and regions where Christianity is seen as threatened.

In addition, the Presidential Prayer Team, which claims more than 2.8 million members, was organized after the 2000 election to engage people in daily prayer for President Bush, utilizing the Internet. The movement expanded to include prayer for other elected officials after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and inspired Pray the Vote for the 2004 election.

“Religious conservative groups have done a remarkably good job at mobilizing … many of these people who were remarkably apolitical beforehand,” said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University and a longtime observer of evangelical political efforts.

“When it’s being pointed directly at political leaders, it suggests that there is a purpose in mobilizing people and sending a signal that these people are indeed watching, they’re observing their leaders.”

The Adopt-a-Leader program is one of the many focuses of the National Day of Prayer, which includes prayer for teachers, families and the media. Coordinators openly hope it will effect political change.

“There has been some legislation that has legalized some immorality _ pornography, divorce, abortion,” said Jim Wydman, vice chairman of the National Day of Prayer task force. “There are some major issues on the table and they determine the heart of America. The question is will they align with the heart of God?”

Participants are encouraged to pray for those they agree with as well as those leaders they see as misguided, according to Wydman, who said he is praying for Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Adopt-a-Leader prayer kits have been sent to churches, communities and companies across the country. Participants receive a postcard to send to their chosen leaders, and 12 follow-up cards to send throughout the year.

For the second year, members of Fortress Church in San Antonio will be targeting their representatives in prayer.

“Right now we have over 100 people on a consistent basis praying at least twice a week for elected officials _ local, state and national,” said the Rev. Randy Garcia, who is praying for the mayor of Helotes, a local suburb. “I believe it’s obedience to the word of God, because we care about our nation, we care about our leaders and we desire a movement of God throughout this nation.”

The program is more political than spiritual, according to the Rev. Bruce Prescott, a Baptist minister coordinating an Interfaith Day of Prayer in Oklahoma City in conjunction with the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“The more that they reduce an active worship to a political statement, the more meaningless the event becomes,” said Prescott, who works with a group called Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists. “I think it’s good for people to pray for people, but if it’s carrying a political message and it’s used as a weapon, it’s stepped well beyond what is valuable and helpful in our community.”

But Terrell Mayton, marketing and media manager for the NDP Taskforce, said too many assaults are being made on Christian values for people to not include these issues in their prayer.

“The assault on the family, the representative issues … all those happening at a similar time show people that they have a need to pray and that they have an influence on outcomes,” Mayton said. “When we elect them, we want them to represent us and our collective point of view.”

Rozell, co-editor of “The Christian Right in American Politics” and co-author of “Second Coming: The New Christian Right in Virginia Politics,” said such events have been held for some time and have never been strictly religious or strictly political.

He called them “opportunities to mobilize people of faith and try to remind them that, in their language, they are God’s stewards on Earth.”

MO/PH END RNS

Editors: An info-graphic listing and explaining various prayer movements accompanies this story. Also search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for file photos depicting the National Day of Prayer, including a shot of President Bush with his head bowed in prayer. Choose “exact phrase” and search by subject for “National Day of Prayer.”