Multiple choice. The National Day of Prayer is:

a)  When my schedule clears up
b)  May 5, 2005
c)  Every day
d)  Sunday morning
e)  Whenever the next tragedy strikes
f)   All of the above

Officially, the answer is “B,” but just as Christmas and Easter aren’t the only days we should commemorate Christ’s birth and resurrection, neither is May 5 the only day we should practice fervent prayer.

That said, the comparison to our holiest days doesn’t end there. The right and ability to commune with the God of all creation is, after our salvation, the greatest privilege accorded a Christian. It’s a definite reason to party! Our direct line to the Almighty (Jeremiah 33:3 has been referred to as “God’s phone number”) can’t be taken for granted.

The National Day of Prayer press release says May 5 will be a time where "citizens of the United States [will] celebrate their freedom to gather, worship, and pray."

Why such a cause for rejoicing? How essential to the Christian walk is prayer? How necessary?

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

Billy Graham said, “The three most important things you can do are to pray, pray, pray!”

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.”