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ONE NATION UNDER GOD – 05/02/19

By May 2, 2019May 8th, 2019Daily Devotionals

ONE NATION UNDER GOD
May 2, 2019

Heavenly Father, Regardless of our political affiliation unite us as one body. We pray for revival in our country. May that revival start today with me. 

 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12 NAS 

 

The following paragraphs are taken from the web site of the National Day of Prayer to give you some history and better understanding of this day of prayer that occurs the first Thursday of May each year. I have served with this ministry for over ten years and served on its Board of Directors for three years, it is a ministry near and dear to my heart. Our nation needs prayer, we all need prayer, and so I am asking all pray for our nation on Thursday. Please do not get political, do not point fingers, but ask God how we can bless Him. Proclaim the Lord as the God of our nation and commit to allegiance and obedience to Him. Ask Him to draw us nearer to Him and to forgive us for the many things that we do that angers Him. Ask Him to help us set things right, for a church that glorifies Him and leadership that upholds His commands. Pray for whatever the Spirit puts on your heart. I strongly encourage you to register and report your prayer time at www.natioanldayofprayer.org to be included in the celebration of the many hearts joined together to pray on this special day.  

 

“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. 

 

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 over 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. 

 

My prayer is that we would be one nation under God. 

 

Copyright Kathy Branzell.  Email [email protected]