30th Annual National Day of Prayer Observance for 76262
Thursday, May 5, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Lake Cities Church of Christ – Trophy Club
Live stream on FB @NDP76262
“Prayer brings people together as we have done in our 76262 area for 30 years now. For one day, we can join in with millions across our nation who will be praying for our governmental leaders, our military, the media, businesses, education, our churches and the family.” - Irma Thomas
The hope is that individuals, churches and spiritual leaders in America will unify in prayer for the next great move of God. The National Day of Prayer gives us this opportunity during these tremendously challenging times.
This year’s event will include inspirational worship music, a moving presentation of colors by the Roanoke Fire Department Honor Guard and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by veterans from the Roanoke Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 5074. The mayors of Roanoke, Trophy Club and Westlake will present proclamations declaring “A Day of Prayer” in their respective municipalities to coincide with the National Day of Prayer.
First Call of Prayer in 1775
Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing and significant history in American tradition. The Supreme Court affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer in Marsh vs. Chambers (1983).
The First Thursday of May
The National Day of Prayer is an annual
observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
Significance of the National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation as it enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call for us to humbly come before God and seek His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.
Every year, local, state and federal observances are held from sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii, uniting Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds in prayer for our nation. It is estimated that over 2 million people have attended more than 30,000 observances – organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers.
Historical Summary
1775 – The first Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer.
1863 – Abraham Lincoln called for such a day.
1952 – Congress established NDP as an annual event by a joint resolution, signed into law by President Truman (82-324).
1988 – The law was amended and signed by President Reagan, designating the NDP as the first Thursday in May (100-307).
Fun Facts
There have been 146 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the president of the United States (1789 – 2015).
There have been 69 presidential proclamations for a National Day of Prayer (1952 – 2015).
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.
Every president since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.
35 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 Gamaliel Harding, signed proclamations for Thanksgiving and prayer.
Records indicate there have been 1,526 state and federal calls for national prayer since
1775 and counting.
"Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it." —Thomas Jefferson, 1808
-A special thanks
Irma Thomas is our local contact for the National Day of Prayer and the individuals behind this event for the past 29 years.
Irma Thomas
National Day of Prayer Task Force Coordinator
(817) 683-6724
Source: www.nationaldayofprayer.org