Tyndale House publishes 'Pray for America Bible' to guide Christians in 2020
As the United States heads into yet another contentious election year, one of the nation’s most popular Bible publishers is trying to help Americans pray more efficiently and in a non-partisan manner for the needs of the country.
Tyndale House Publishers has continued its successful One Year Bible series with the recently released special edition, One Year Pray for America Bible.
The One Year Bible series, of which 3 million copies have sold over the last three decades, breaks down Scripture into 365 daily readings to help readers read the entire Bible in one year.
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“Our team back in the spring was really aware of the kind of tension and conflict our country was experiencing for some time,” Tyndale House Bible Brand Director Dave Thornton told The Christian Post.
“It seems the level of political rancor and divide has been greater recently than in the past. So we felt like it would be a blessing to our fellow citizens if we can put together the strength of our One Year Bible plan with some daily prayer prompts to help people pray intelligently and specifically for the needs of our country.”
Regardless of where Americans might be on the political spectrum, Thornton said that the One Year Pray for America Bible could be a “blessing to them” by helping them “give word to the thoughts in their heart.”
“Perhaps, as potentially tens of thousands of Christians might even be praying the same prayer on the same day, that God would hear from Heaven and help break through some of the divide, some of the noise and help our elected officials have more wisdom in handling really difficult issues,” he said.
The special edition also includes over a dozen prayers said by famous Americans such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Billy Graham and others.
“From the first Constitutional Congress to recent prayers such as the pastors that prayed for 9/11, there are these threads that tie through,” Thronton explained. “Everything from politicians to pastors have gone before the throne of Heaven with some words and some prayers that were pretty specific for our country or for needs and issues here in the United States of America.”
An example of a prayer prompt trying to tackle a highly divisive issue in a nonpartisan way is the prayer prompt for Feb. 5.
It reads:
Lord, you call your people to not oppress and mistreat foreigners. Immigration is a key issue, a discussion where emotions run high. Give our leaders wisdom in balancing national interests with compassion. They need your wisdom, Lord, as do I. Amen.
“Regardless of a Christian’s position on a topic like immigration, that is a prayer that people could pray and specifically pleading with God to give wisdom to leaders who are wrestling with these tough issues that involve both topics like biblical compassion but also the national interests of our country,” Thornton said.
Thornton assured that the One Year Pray for America Bible is “not purely an issue of praying for politics.”
“I think there are prayers for every aspect of life in our civic society in the U.S.A.,” he said. “That includes families and churches and the media and schools and politics and political leaders as well.”
While the Bible centers around praying for the needs of the U.S., the Pray for America Bible reminds readers on Sept. 30 that they are first and foremost citizens of Heaven.
“Our passports may say the United States of America but this is a temporary home,” the prayer prompt reads. “Help us to live and act like we are citizens of your kingdom.”
In the forward of the Pray for America Bible, U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black calls on the country to "get back to praying for our government."
"Because life should not be divided into sacred and secular," Black wrote. "God has sovereignty over all of our lives because in him we live, move, breathe, and function (Acts 17:28).”
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