Thursday, May 2 marks the annual National Day of Prayer. The theme is “Lift Up the Word - Light Up the World.”
But what is the National Day of Prayer and when was it started?
According to the National Day of Prayer’s official website, hotelier Conrad Hilton and Kansas Sen. Frank Carlson introduced a bill that was passed in 1952 that established a National Day of Prayer that would be proclaimed annually by the president as a day set aside for which “the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups and as individuals.”
It wasn’t until 1983 that the first National Day of Prayer observance occurred, organized by the National Prayer Committee, taking place at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
In 1987, Sen. Strom Thurman introduced S. 1378 to the Senate Judiciary Committee, amending a public law, changing the wording from “appropriate day” to “the first Thursday in May in each year.” It was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 with several faith leaders, lawmakers and even entertainer Pat Boone, who was the co-chair of the National Prayer Committee at the time.
A decade later President Bill Clinton signed another public law that reads, “The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.
President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Tuesday once again declaring May 2 the National Day of Prayer, writing, “The right to practice our faiths freely and openly is enshrined in the Constitution and remains at the core of our American spirit. For centuries, Americans of every religion and background have come together to lift up one another and our Nation in prayer.”
His decree went on to say, “I call upon the citizens of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faith and conscience, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God’s continued guidance, mercy, and protection.”
The proclamation sets the expectation that the National Day of Prayer is for people of any religion to pray together on the same day.
But not everyone agrees that there should be a National Day of Prayer.
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, columnist Kate Cohen called the National Day of Prayer, “pretty quaint,” adding, “it’s also how we got here, dangerously accustomed to incursions of religion into our political discourse.”
Cohen wrote, “A law requiring the U.S. president to make an annual proclamation urging Americans to pray is still a law that involves the government in the religious lives — the human minds — of its citizens.” She also cited a paper written by Founding Father James Madison that challenged the government establishing support of religion by paying Christian teachers at the time.
Madison wrote: “Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and to observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us.”
Cohen also cited the Constitution’s first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Still, the day is one that allows for those with faith a day to reflect.
Pastor Jesse Bradley of Grace Community Church in Auburn, Washington, told Fox News, “There are levels of stress, anxiety, and despair in our country that are concerning. People need a safe place to talk, pray and be with God.”
Rabbi Pinchas Taylor of Plantation, Florida, said, At a time when trust in government leaders is at an all-time low, we need not despair. We remember that ultimately, God is the Hand behind the scenes that guides the nation to our destiny: ‘In God We Trust.’”
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