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Two dozen or so members of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas also began a 48-hour fast yesterday, reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, but have seen fellow Christians join them from as far away as Britain and Russia.

Such Internet prayer efforts seem to be drawing more together than actual church services. The Washington Post today reports on "dozens of Web sites encouraging Americans to sign up to pray for Bush and U.S. troops." Among them is PrayForOurPresident.com. "Unfortunately, there probably are people in other lands who are praying against the President and against us," explains founder Terry Posey. So I think it's important for us to have our share of prayer warriors."

Ted Haggard, the new president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, is also involved in several physical and online prayer efforts, including the Presidential Prayer Team and the World Prayer Center. "Everybody is praying to whomever they claim is the sovereign God, so we all agree that however this comes out, it will be God's will," he told the Post. "In the end, Saddam is going to have to accept the fact that it was not God's will for him to remain in power."

While it's a given that Christians are supposed to pray in times like this, it might be hard to know exactly what to pray for. Here's one guide that has become very popular here at Christianity Today International.

Religious reaction to war:

• Faith vs. fighting | Orange County worshippers face conflict over religious principles and need for war (The Orange County Register)
  
  
• Ministers attempt to offer guidance | Ministers say they are asked to answer whether the war is right or wrong, but many eschew direct answer (Odessa American)
  
  
• Facing uncertain fate, troops line up for baptism | Since the 82nd Airborne arrived here in mid-February, 104 paratroopers have been baptized, according to chaplains at the camp (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Religious leaders comment on Iraq war | A roundup of responses (UPI)
  
  
• Churches deplore war in Iraq | World Council of Churches called the assault "immoral, illegal and ill-advised." (CBC)
  
  
• How a visit to Iraq can change your mind … | I arrived in Iraq a pacifist Christian and left Iraq as a Bonhoeffer Christian (Victor Eremita, Obedient Hound, TheOoze.com, and Relevant)
  
  
• Pious denunciations | An Episcopal bishop sounds more like Martin Sheen than Fulton Sheen (Fred Barnes, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Praise the Lord and George W. Bush | A recent Gallup poll shows that church-going Americans are more likely to support war against Saddam Hussein than are Americans as a whole (Mark Tooley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  
  
• Clergy ponder ways to comfort worshippers (The Honolulu Advertiser)
  
  
• Does war with Iraq signal the beginning of 'End Times?' | While not convinced that the war with Iraq signals the imminent return of Jesus, Mark Hitchcock does believe the conflict's eventual result - the removal of Hussein and his regime - is a big step in that direction (Crosswalk.com)
  
  
• Views on war not based on faith | Two surveys—one on faith and the war in Iraq, the other on America's shifting belief patterns—may be inviting ostensibly contradictory conclusions (UPI)
  
  
• Archbishops pray for peace | The Archbishop of Canterbury said that the country has entered "dangerous new terrain" with unpredictable consequences (The Times, London)
  
  
• Romanian Catholic bishop calls war 'mortal sin' | Romanian Catholics follow the practices of Eastern Orthodox churches instead of the Roman Catholic church, but are loyal to the pope (Associated Press)
  
  

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March (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47