The 60 men in attendance were greeted by Dr. Dobson and challenged by the teachings of the Bible through Bishop Jackson and Reverend Graham. Attendees came from different parts of the United States, and hold business and community leadership posts, such as pastors, attorneys and CEOs.
One of the men in attendance was Mike Sharman, an attorney who works primary with family issues, such as child neglect and abuse. Considering the day-to-day heartbreaking situations he sees, he hopes that National Day of Prayer will strengthen the American family, and he would like to see it start with men.
“I can see some men doing what Adam did in the beginning – just standing aside, not doing anything while Satan attacks the family. Most of the abused children I see are lacking the loving embrace of strong father” explained Sharman. “We no longer live in a culture that surrounds us with the word of God, and without a Godly man at the beginning of a family, you just have a battlefield of dead and wounded.”
Sharman cites Bishop Harry Jackson and Franklin Graham as examples of men living boldly for Christ in our nation. Both of them have received scrutiny this year for their stances on the definition of marriage (Jackson) and for simply praying for our nation (Graham).
“They both admonished us and encouraged to forcefully take hold of the Gospel and carry it out. There were only 60 men in that room. That is four times as many as Christ had. We just need to ask ourselves, ‘what can we do TODAY’ to turn the eyes of our country back toward God?”
Charles. W. Herbster , CEO and owner of a 40-year-old manufacturing company in Minneapolis, has been attending the men’s prayer event for several years. He was invited as a first-time guest eight years ago and became a friend of James and Shirley Dobson.
Herbster became a Christian in 1982. Over the last 18 years he has lead an organization that recognizes he power of prayer in the corporate world. Passionate about the National Day of Prayer, he says, “There is no better place for me to be than here in Washington, D.C. as a CEO and business owner, demonstrating my passion and encouraging other business leaders to take time, particularly tomorrow to honor the Author of our faith.”
He explains that business leaders have a great platform to impact the world, through living a holy life as an example, and through prayer. “I rely on prayer multiple times daily. We start our board meetings with prayer. My wife has a list at home on the mirror of people we pray for, whether they are employees, vendors or other people we do business with.”
He says there is no better way to lead a company – or a country – than through intercession. “I can’t imagine leading a company without constant prayer. Just like everybody else, we have been challenged by the downturn in business. However, we just finished the largest month ever in the history of this company.”
Herbster believes that the theme chosen for this year’s observance, “For a Time Such as This,” is quite fitting for our country’s spiritual climate. “This is a defining moment in our country. We, as Americans…and especially as men, need to stand boldly for Christ, telling people about Him every chance we get.”
