Every Bible-believing Christian sees the need to pray for our nation and its leaders. But knowing we need to pray is not the same as praying.
A little over two years ago, Colonel John Teichert began a prayer initiative to encourage American Christians to intercede for our country with faithfulness and importunity. It’s called P.L.U.S. (Prayer at Lunchtime for the United States), and it is a tool to encourage and equip Christians to pray faithfully for revival in America.
Colonel Teichert was saved through the ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church when he and his family were stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. He is a man who has served his nation in the United States Air Force for the past twenty-one years.
Although Colonel Teichert now lives elsewhere, we interviewed him about his vision and motive for launching P.L.U.S. and how others can participate.
What’s Your Background in the Military? What Drew You In?
I grew up with a love for my country that my parents had instilled deep within me, and that gave me a natural desire to serve my country. Also from a young age, I wanted to fly, and joining the Air Force was a natural step to becoming a fighter pilot. Ultimately, my goal has always been to maximize my impact on people and our nation in a life of service.
How Did P.L.U.S. Originate?
In December 2012 as I was reflecting on goals and priorities for the coming year, I came to the conclusion that though I had a regular prayer life, and though I loved my country, I never had regularly, faithfully prayed for my nation. Also at that time, the Lord brought to my mind the phrase from Esther 4:14, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
I must have believed that I could do more for my country by working than I could by praying. With that realization, I started praying regularly through the course of January 2013. As the Lord often does when you pray for something, He gave me an increased burden throughout that month.
By the end of January, I came to the conclusion that praying for America as a part of my regular prayer time was not enough, but that I needed to have a separate and specific time of prayer for America. Beginning February 1, 2013, and every workday since then, I have found the time to step out of my office around lunchtime to specifically pray for our nation.
During that month of February, the Lord impressed on me that maybe there were other Christians like me who love their country but do not regularly pray for it. That’s when the idea of P.L.U.S. came to mind. From its outset, I developed P.L.U.S. to encourage others to do what I should have been doing all along—to pray regularly and fervently for our nation and its leaders. American Christians all need to embrace the responsibility implied by Esther 4:14. We have indeed been placed here for such a time as this.
What Do You Hope PLUS Will Accomplish?
Ultimately, I pray that this tool will prompt Christians to be faithful in prayer such that it will spur widespread revival in our nation. The goal is to change our national spirit so that the Lord can change our national direction.
I’m concerned about our country’s drift away from the foundation upon which we were built. Christians are largely to blame because we have failed to stand up for the cause of Christ in our country. We have failed to pray. We have failed to put into practice the principles of 2 Chronicles 7:14. On our watch, we have allowed our country to slip away from its founding Christian principles.
I pray that P.L.U.S. will help Christians get back to the basics of humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God, and turning from our wicked ways. It is through this Biblical formula that we can return our nation to its founding principles.
What Are You Asking Somebody to Do in Joining PLUS and Signing Up for Updates?
I’m asking all Christians to pray specifically, daily, and fervently for our nation and its leaders. I’ve created tools to help people do that: the website (prayatlunch.us), Twitter account, and the Facebook page that give prayer helps twice each week. The prayer helps are meant to be thought-provoking and challenging ways to guide our prayers specifically for revival in our nation.
So This Is Not Something that People Join; It’s Something They Use?
This ministry is all about getting people to pray as they should. Prayer for our nation and its leaders is the least you should do and the most you can do to make an impact. It is the most basic act of fulfilling our Christian citizenship responsibility. Use the P.L.U.S. website if it is helpful; use the P.L.U.S. social media tools if they are helpful; set your alarm to remind you if you must. Most importantly, put P.L.U.S. into practice by praying. Be burdened to pray for America and her leaders, and spread that burden to others by challenging them to pray as well. If we are to have hope that this nation will return to its Bible-based foundation, then we all must pray!