Monday, May 4, 2015

1st Thursday of May: National Day of Prayer

A National Day of Prayer has been officially celebrated one day a year over the United States of America for over 60 years. In fact, over 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation calling for a national day of prayer and fasting. President Barack Obama signed a similar proclamation back in 2009.

What is Prayer?

Man praying at a Japanese Shinto Shrine, Wikimedia Commons, Sandstein
Answering this question is not going to be easy as we know that prayer means different things to different people.

This is particularly true because some do not believe in prayer. And some pray even if they don’t believe or don’t really know what they’re doing.

It becomes harder still because different people would pray in different ways and to different "gods", some they know, some they don’t.

Some people pray to a higher power and some to a mysterious, mystifying or strange entity or force. Some people pray to other people, dead or alive. And some simply pray to whoever’s up there or whoever could hear their words.

Talking To God

But what is prayer? To me, it's just another term for communicating with God -- God, being the Creator of all things. Communicating -- meaning conversing or talking to Him.

But remember communicating is corresponding, it’s connecting, it’s interacting. It is not a one way street. It should go both ways. And so prayer should also involve hearing back from your Maker. Some people have attested to literally hear from God but for most people, hearing back normally comes from something inaudible, much like your conscience talking to you.

Hearing back would also be in the form of an answered prayer, which is of course the main reason why one is praying in the first place.

Reading and meditating on the bible would also be a source of “hearing back” from God, as it is the "Word" of God.

History of the National Day of Prayer
www.dare2share.org

Most people would be surprised to know that America has long been a praying nation. 
National days of prayer have been called for since the late 1700s when it's people needed help in the formation of the new nation.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called for one.

The National Day of Prayer was officially established by an act of Congress in 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed this into law. This Congress stipulated that the President should set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year for such.

In 1988, President Reagan finally designated the first Thursday of May each year, as the National Day of Prayer.


Why Pray?

Because if you believe in God, then you really need God. Actually if you do not believe in God and it so happens that there is a God, then you really need Him all the more.

And if you need God, then you should call (upon) Him. 

And you do that through prayer -- whatever way, be it in public or in private, silently or out aloud, and by yourself or in the company of others.

The Old Testament bible says that:

“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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14

In the New Testament, the four gospels put it this way:

 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 and Mark 14:38

“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”  Luke 21:36

"My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message"  Jesus Prays for All Believers,  John 17:20

Even Jesus prayed for all those who would believe in Him.


Trivia: National Day of Prayer

1.      There have been 143 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2014).

2.      There have been 66 Presidential Proclamations for a National Day of Prayer (1952-2014). Gerald R. Ford (1976), George H. Bush (1989-91) and Barack H. Obama (2012) are the only U.S. Presidents to sign multiple National Day of Prayer Proclamations in the same year.

3.      Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.

4.      34 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Three of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office. Two Presidents, not included in the count -- William Howard Taft and Warren Harding, signed proclamations for Thanksgiving and Prayer.

5.      There has been 1,310 state and federal calls for national prayer since 1775 and counting.





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