History of the National Day of Prayer
“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
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 National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our 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 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.
- 1952 Harry S. Truman declares a National Day of Prayer and signs into law an annual
- observance there of – United States Congress passed Joint Resolution 382 on April 17, 1952/ President Truman signs Public Law 82-324 (Public Law 82-324; 66 Stat. 64—April 17, 1952).
- 1988 Ronald Reagan signs into law the designation of the first Thursday in May as the annual observance for the National Day of Prayer – President Reagan signs Public Law 100-307
- January 25, 1988, in the Second Session of the One Hundredth Congress (Public Law 100-307—May 5, 1988).
- 1998 Pub. L. 105-225, August 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1258: 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.
The National Day of Prayer is Significant
The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. 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 to us to humbly come before God, seeking 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.
Like Thanksgiving or Christmas, this day has become a national observance placed on all Hallmark calendars and observed annually across the nation and in Washington, D.C. Last year, local, state and federal observances were 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 more than two million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers. At state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stopped their activities and gathered for prayer.
The National Day of Prayer is Ours
The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds. Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDP chairman, reminds us: “We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too.”
History 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).
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).
Factoids
1) The President of the United States has called for a National Day of Prayer every year since 1975.
2) There have been 135 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2009).
3) There have been 57 Presidential Proclamations for a “National Day of Prayer” (1952-2009).
4) Gerald Ford (1976) and George H. Bush (1989-91) are the only U.S. Presidents to sign two National Day of Prayer Proclamations in the same year.
5) Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.
6) 33 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Four of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office.
Three Areas of Impact to Transform Workplaces, Cities and Nations for Christ
Marie Phillipson Instructor
Friday, March 5th, @ 7pm - 10pm & Saturday, March 6th, @ 9am - 7pm at the Church of Grace and Peace, in Toms River
9-5 Window - the Christian in the Workplace
Learn what the Bible actually teaches about our work, and the deception that has been passed down through the centuries, with practical teaching on four levels and attributes of workplace believers.
In Depth Track for Christian Business Owners: Learn new business principles for conducting business God’s way; the power of prayer and intercession, managing employees and building Team Leadership based on the 5 Ascension Gifts; Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Teacher and Evangelist.
Networking: Sharpen your collaboration and partnerships skills bringing principles to the marketplace with God’s blessing. Learn how the new social networking platforms are affecting how we do business and how they can benefit you.
Students will come away with an understanding of God’s view and purposes for their work and business in the MarketPlace. A session on Finding Freedom from Strongholds will also be taught during this course. The class will include teaching through group interaction, video, discussion, and prayer.
This is a 4 TU Wagner Leadership Course: Wagner Students: $100, Non Wagner Students (Auditors): $50. For more information call: 732.349.1550, x213. RSVP is requested for attending, it helps us in our planning. Thank You! For directions click here.
Here is an example of an outstanding passage:
"For the knowledge of truth is the first essential for warfare with the lying spirits of Satan, and truth must be eagerly sought for, and faced with earnest and sincere desire to know it, and obey it in the light of God...There is a fundamental principle involved in the freeing power of truth from the deceptions of the devil. Deliverance from believing lies must be by believing truth. Nothing can remove a lie but truth. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 32)"
For more from JPL, go to this link.
See you this week at BOLD, 12:45pm, St. Bart's Small Chapel.
It is pretty easy to read right through the exhilaration and triumph of David’s life. David was not born to royalty – and actually was not highly esteemed by his own father or his brothers. There is no evidence that he went to school or studied, but rather was a shepherd, but a shepherd destined to become king.
We are very familiar with David’s achievements, his victory over Goliath, his accomplishments over the Philistines and his record as a king; but for a moment I would like us to consider David the musician.
For a moment, I would like us to focus on his music. So powerful was David’s musical ability – that a king hired him to play and sing to fend of the demons that were afflicting him. When David played – God’s power became manifest. Not only God’s power – but the entire atmosphere of the palace shifted. I am sure that when people entered Saul’s palace and they heard music, they must have said, “David is in the house.”
David somehow was bestowed with this talent that could rent the spiritual atmosphere apart. I believe that this was the by-product of at least three elements:
- The depth of his knowledge of God
- The depth of his experience with God
- The depth of his revelation of God’s character
The combination of all three produced reliance upon the Lord that consistently manifest what I call: The Final Reality.
If you track back to David’s knowledge of God, even back to the days when his father left him to fend for himself with the family’s sheep – David’s life was design to be a training ground for reigning.
David learned to fight off the lion and the bear.
David faced adversity.
David faced isolation.
David faced himself,
But what produced the unique quality of a leader in him was the fact that David learned to face God.
It was David’s ability and persistence to wrestle successfully with God ultimately taught him that ‘wrestling’ was God’s way of empowering him to fight the lions and the bears and prevail.
Wrestling with God yields a level of authority referred to in the bible as royalty.
I am sure that you have come to see that God hates to waste a ‘good’ crisis.
With God, adversity becomes His University.
In those days, the family was the nuclear basis from which everyone operated. [It is still true today, that within the Semitic culture; family loyalty trumps all other allegiances.] The family was the nuclear basis out of which everyone operated. Everything revolved around family. You lived for family. You worked for family. You even married and died for the family. Survival of the family was the cardinal rule.
The Lord allowed David to be extricated from his feudal family culture in order to embed a divine culture in him. David was exiled by his own father and brothers to care for the sheep of the family. This ‘exile’ was so palpable, that when the great prophet Samuel came looking to anoint the next king, Jesse didn’t even think to include David with the rest of his sons. In Jesse's eyes David didn't even rate.
All of this was leveraged by the Lord as Leadership 101 for David in which he would be forced to learn about God. But David went far beyond learning about God; he actually learned to love God in the way that God loved to be loved: through worship in song.
It was as a shepherd that David learned that every adversity could produce a spiritual benefit that he memorialized in musical memorial form.
And so it was here that this shepherd king would learn that the process of spiritual and personal growth often involved crisis through injustice. David never permitted himself the 'luxury' of becoming a victim. He resisted that temptation through the power of waiting on God. And with each setback, he learned it was the Lord creating a 'set-up.' Each time, David would emerge with a new song in his mouth – and it was his song that God used to shift the circumstance of his life.
David went through so many of these transformational events in his life, that he wrote 73 Psalms in the Bible. That's a lot of setback and a lot of setups. But it was not the vast number of songs that he produced that distinguished David as the ultimate Rock Star in history: it was what people saw when they heard those songs.
People saw a man who had emerged through adversity, and his secret was his location.
Waiting on God is like searching for the right house to' buy' when you can't just settle on any house. It has to fit you and the life you want to live.
By waiting on the Lord, David learned that his spiritual batteries were getting charged and that he could expect the Lord to set him on The Rock.
When people heard a David song, it was David's rock that made him a Star... and it is your Rock which will make you a Star as well...
So Rock on, Rock on!
Come out to BOLD this week and get ROCKED! St. Bart's, Tuesday, 12:45pm, 50th Street and Park Avenue.
In reading and meditating on Psalm 40, I struggled with the idea of waiting. I don’t mind the idea of judicious and planned action which integrates pauses into each phase. But how does this waiting thing work out? And how do I pray this portion of scripture?
As simple as it sounds, the gospel comes down to the power that resides right under your nose. You begin to speak it out and pray it back to the Lord.
A Forgotten Power
So that is what I did, and no sooner did I say back to Him, “Lord, I am waiting on You. And I thank You that You have heard my cry,” than this image and thought came into my mind: God embeds into us the power to biblically wait, which activates a myriad of blessings. The first blessing is the power to Stop God. By stop, I mean, the ability to turn God’s head, or arrest His attention toward our situation and condition.
I point out these individuals in Scripture:
The Syrophoenician woman who was able to believe Jesus for healing of her daughter
Zacchaeus — the tax collector who stopped Jesus by his tree-climbing faith
Woman with the issue of blood — who stopped Jesus with her touching faith
Waiting contains the ‘seeds’ to cause God to turn toward us and to listen to what we are saying.
Are you getting that? The Universe Master stops and asks, “What do you have to say?”
But then when God turns around and asks us what we want, the outcome is nothing short of spectacular. He sets into motion all the resources of heaven and earth, which results in the following:
He brings you out of the pit
He takes us out of the miry clay
Sets us on a rock
He establishes and guides my direction
He puts a new song in my mouth
Waiting represents a lifestyle of flexibility, adaptability, and changeability.
So then what are the elements of waiting? Waiting starts with:
- What you think
- What you say
- What you don’t say
- What you confess
- The direction that you choose to face
- How you choose to listen
- What you do
- What you worship
As I was sharing with BOLD’s Chairman, Vaughn Weimer, waiting on God empowers you to live a “Yes Life.”
You know that you are living a Yes Life if people look at your life and they are saying “Yes” or “No.” Yes, God is with him, or No, God is not. Living the Yes Life doesn’t guarantee everything always goes right. It does mean, though, that everything works together for good.
God wants to make each one of our lives one big YES.
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