... start praying!
Hi, I'm Stuart Shepard. This is "Stoplight".
Would it?
Would it be?
Would it be wrong ... to ask people to pray?
Would it be wrong if we asked people to pray ... for rain?
Okay, not just rain. Abundant rain, torrential rain, urban-and-small-stream-flood-advisory rain.
Would it be wrong if we prayed for rain on, say, a particular day or night, at, say, a particular location?
Oh, say, the evening of August 28th, right here at Mile-High Stadium in Denver?
During the primetime TV hour, when a certain presumptive nominee is set to give a certain acceptance speech at a certain Democratic National Convention?
I'm talking-umbrellas-ain't-gonna-help-you-rain. Not flood-people-out-of-their-houses rain, just good ol' swamp-the-intersections rain. We're not asking for hail the size of canned hams or lightning bolts to set the bunting on fire. Just rain, beautiful rain, network-cameras-can't-see-the-podium rain. Attendees-can't-walk-back-to-the-indoor-arena-without-wishing-for-hip-waders rain.
I know, you might ask why would I pray for that? Well, I'm still pro-life, and I'm still in favor of marriage being only between one man and one woman. And I'd like the next president who will select justices for the U.S. Supreme Court to agree.
So I'm praying for unexpected, unanticipated, unforecasted rain that starts two minutes before the speech is set to begin.
Would it be wrong to pray for rain?
I don't have any special insight or special connections. I'm just an ordinary guy who's looking for people, lots of people who feel like I do, to pray for rain.
Now I know there'll probably be people who'll pray for 72 degrees and clear skies, but this isn't a contest. But if God decides — and it's always up to God to decide — if God decides that rain of biblical proportions would be a good and proper meteorological condition for that evening, we'll see it and we'll say that it is good.
And if He decides that it's not really necessary, I'm okay with that. I'll still trust in His wisdom and I'll rest peacefully knowing that lots of us offered up a humble prayer request.
Would it be so wrong if we asked people to pray ... for rain?