A National Prayer Life

Saturday, 05 February 2011 11:23

Written by Ma. Gladys Sta. Rita

It was a Sunday like no other for the main man of the nation. President Noynoy Aquino stood still and silent, as a booming 12,500-strong wall of prayer and petition mounted at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Philippines. The grand prayer rally, which lasted for almost three, truly blessed hours, was for him and the country, whose past months have been haunted by the most trying series of crises.

The afternoon of worship and prayer of Christians was dubbed “Dahil Mahal Mo Ang Pilipinas: A Prayer for President Benigno S. Aquino III.” The event was led by Bishop Jonel Milan, head of the K4 Philippines Intercessors and CCF Founder and Senior Pastor Peter Tan-chi and Former Chief SC Justice Reynato Puno.

K4 or the Kilusang Pananalangin para sa Apat na Executives ng Bansa, is a movement committed to pray, four times a day, for the four main executives of the country, namely: the President, Governors, Mayors and Barangay Chairmen. This movement seeks to involve all Filipinos who will commit to pray for the four executives' kalusugan (good health), kaligtasan (safety), karunungan (wisdom), and katuwiran (righteousness).

The movement, which avalanched into a national prayer phenomenon from its humble beginnings in 2002 in Bulacan, takes inspiration from the Gospel of St. Timothy (1 Timothy 2:1-2), which say, “I exhort, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; For Kings, and for all that are in authority; that they may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”.

Having been a public manager for half my life, and in the local government circles at that, I could not agree more with the K4 initiative. The timing and relevance of the Sunday event could not have come at a better juncture for the country, and for its elected leaders, from the Palace, down to the barangay halls. More than a rally of prayer and petition, the Sunday Prayer for PNoy was a wake-up call to the entire nation; a reminder of a truth that have been nagging us for ages: that we are a people of prayer and the only Christian nation in Asia, for a divinely appointed reason.

Praying with the throng of the faithful that day, the K4 event reminded me of that day in EDSA, of the praying multitude, of the gripping sensation of being a humble, yet intergral part of a powerful wave of change, poised to manifest a life-changing miracle. And I’m quite certain, many others, including the President felt it, too.

The experience also reminded me of the purpose for being of my book Running A Bureaucracy, back in 2008, when its first pages were being drafted. In fact, the entire guidebook content is sandwiched between two personal after-prayer reflections, the last one written on Easter Sunday. The book carries that message unequivocally: There is hope for the bureaucracy. Through God’s grace, it can be done.

Come to think of it, the message of K4 is as simple. We, as a nation, have to go back to a life of prayer. The act of prayer has to be understood as an act of faith and hope; faith in the goodness of our race, faith in the goodness of our people, hope in our leaders, in ourselves, and the graciousness of our God. Behind the dark veil of brutality, violence, and lawlessness that confront us today is a familiar prodding. It is an urgent call to a National Prayer Life. It would be folly to ignore this.
K4 tells us, there is hope, indeed. For the bureacracy. For government. For the country. For us.

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