The first National Day of Prayer was commemorated when the Continental Congress issued a proclamation recommending "a day of publick humiliation, fasting, and prayer" be observed on July 20, 1775.
During the war with France, President John Adams declared May 9, 1798 as "a day of solemn humility, fasting, and prayer," during which citizens of all faiths were asked to pray "that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it".
On March 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation expressing the idea "that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins", and designated the day of April 30, 1863 as a day of "national humiliation, fasting and prayer" in the hope that God would respond by restoring "our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace". He went on to say, "...it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."
On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming a National Day of Prayer must be declared by each following president at an appropriate date of his choice.
In 1982 a conservative evangelical Christian organization called the "National Prayer Committee" was formed to coordinate and implement a fixed annual day of prayer for the purpose of organizing evangelical Christian prayer events with local, state, and federal government entities.
In his 1983 declaration, Ronald Reagan said, "From General Washington's struggle at Valley Forge to the present, this Nation has fervently sought and received divine guidance as it pursued the course of history. This occasion provides our Nation with an opportunity to further recognize the source of our blessings, and to seek His help for the challenges we face today and in the future."
In 1988, the law was amended so that the National Day of Prayer would be held on the first Thursday of May.
Since then every president has made a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush celebrated the day with a special White House service as well.
This year marks many areas that need our prayers, the protection of life and traditional marriage, the economy, border security, foreign policy, military involvements and actions including Afghanistan, Iraq, wars and the Libya conflict.
We also must hold up in prayer the devastation and loss of life in our southern states of Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, & Virginia.
Pray for comfort, peace, healing, provision, wisdom and direction, for all those effected by the storms.
Pray for Governor Huckabee as he waits on the LORD for His leading for Governor Huckabee concerning the decision of the 2012 presidential race.
Pray for the Stuck On Huck Rally the Vote event scheduled for June 4, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa, that it would be well attended, powerful and effective in recruiting and solidifying support for encouraging Governor Huckabee to run for president in 2012 according to the will of GOD ALMIGHTY for him at this time.
Pray for Huck PAC and Team Huck state groups.
"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 sin and heal their land." —2 Chronicles 7:14
"Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we have, for GOD can be trusted to keep His promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near."
—Hebrews 10:23-25
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