Today Americans pray together across the nation on the 70th annual National Day of Prayer observance which focuses on “Lord Pour Out Your Love, Life and Liberty.”
This year’s theme comes from 2 Corinthians 3:17 which says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Prayer is a vital part of America’s heritage. Before the founding of the United States, the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation. The call to prayer has continued throughout America’s history, including President Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual National Day of Prayer.
In 1974, the National Prayer Committee began as a subcommittee on prayer at the International Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland. Out of the Lausanne gathering came the U.S. Lausanne Committee, now Mission America, and America’s National Prayer Committee. Mrs. Vonette Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU), was appointed to the Prayer Advisory Group. In 1988, Vonette Bright was present when President Ronald Reagan signed the law permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May as the National Day of Prayer.
One of Liberty Counsel’s many ministries is the Liberty Prayer Network, which hosts a continuous 24/7 prayer conference line since November 2016.
Another Liberty Counsel ministry, Faith & Liberty, co-hosted the annual Capitol Hill Bible Reading Marathon that began this past Saturday and ended yesterday in which the Bible was read continuously from Genesis to Revelation. Today, Faith and Liberty participated in the Day Break Prayer on the steps of the Supreme Court.
Despite this rich history of prayer and the many proclamations calling upon Americans to pray to God, beginning with George Washington, Joe Biden’s proclamation sadly omits any reference to God. If history has taught us anything, it is, as Benjamin Franklin so eloquently said, that a nation cannot rise without God’s blessing and protection.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Our nation is in desperate need of prayer. The Bible says, ‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.’ I encourage everyone to pray and ask for God’s help, wisdom for the future, forgiveness for sins, and unity for our nation. Prayer and contrition are needed now more than ever for our nation.”
