Why was What If His People Prayed by Casting Crowns written?

Answer 1

What If His People Prayed is meant to inspire people to turn to God for needs, requests, and help instead of the things & people of this world.

Mark Hall's book Lifestories, Page 23-25, What if His People prayed: "I had seen her many times in many different settings. I had seen her on television news and had heard about her on the radio. I had read her story in magazines and newspapers. And I had seen her countless times at church. Occasionally, I even knew her name. Sometimes she had blonde hair, sometimes red or brunette. Sometimes she looked like she had the world neatly wrapped up in a bow; at other times, I could see only the weight of her baggage. Sometimes I spoke to her, sometimes I watched other glance at her and whisper. Always, somehow I knew she was hurting.

Who is this girl? You know her too. She works beside you. She's in the car next to yours during rush hour. She's in front of you in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. She's in your daughter's class at school. She's in your church's youth group. Or maybe she's your child. Maybe she's…you.

As a youth pastor, I have seen this girl more times than I can count. She's the girl - whatever her name, pedigree, or appearance - who tried to fill her life's voids with empty choices. She shows up a lot in my life. In fact, she shows up on both of our albums. The girl who became the subject of the song Does Anybody Hear Her?on the Lifesong CD actually spawned a different song first. What if His People Prayed? Emerged after I caught a brief glimpse of the girl on the run.

I was watching television news footage of a picket line of church people screaming at this little teenage girl. She was running through a gauntlet of angry people and holding a newspaper over her head as she tried to enter an abortion clinic. I did not see love. I saw condemnation. I saw a frail statistic weaving her way through the catcalls. All those behind-the-back whispers had turned into full-frontal screams.

I muttered, half-audibly: "Those were the last 50 believers that girl passed by on the way into that clinic to kill her baby, and that's what they had to say to her: "YOU'RE A MURDERER FOR KILLING YOUR KID!" I thought, "You know, we're all of the weight on this girl to live right when she's not equipped to live right." Yes, the girl was making a terrible choice, an abomination in God's sight. Yes, she was willfully taking a human life formed by God. (Psalm 139:13-16) But no, I don't believe our venom is the answer.

The whole scene left me with some questions. If the church had been living for Jesus in front of her beforehand, would she have been in such a predicament? How many ingrown churches did she drive by when she was deciding whom to date? How many silent Christians did she sit beside in the lunch room when she was deciding where to go in this relationship with this guy? How many of us were around her at one time or another and didn't have any opinion or anything to say about her life until she did something on our bad list, and then it was time for us to say what we think? Is this not an upside-down way of thinking?

Second Chronicles 7:14 came to mind. Bill Clinton was in the White House, the courts were upholding abortion rights and getting friendlier with gay rights, and Christians were united primarily by grumbling and sitting on their hands. It seemed as though everything I heard was, "What's wrong with this world? It's the government's fault that this is happening. The schools are doing this, and the politicians are doing that." The government, the schools, and the media were always the problem. They're easy targets, and we've proven it by pounding on them.

I'm all for speaking truth, but we seem to forget on obvious truth: They're lost. Lost people sin. That's what they do. There is no compass in them telling them anything else to do. We, however, have a compass that points to true north. So 2 Chronicles 7:14 casts a different light on these issues. I read it and think, "Maybe its' us." Maybe it isn't the rest of the world all the time. Maybe the big, bad wolf isn't the big, bad wolf after all. Maybe if we would follow just one verse, I wouldn't see this girl so often:

If my people…who are called by my name…will humble themselves, and pray…and seek my face…and turn from their wicked ways…then I will hear from heaven…and will forgive their sins…and heal their land.

It is an if/then statement. It's conditional."