National Day Of Prayer

I participated in the National Day of Prayer yesterday by praying throughout the day, viewing the Washington DC gathering via webcast and by attending a gathering in Downtown Portsmouth, VA. At the Sunrise Financial Ministry Team meeting the NDP was spoken about briefly by those attending. Prayer... America's Hope was the theme for this years NDP. I hope and pray that we who are followers of Jesus Christ will continue to pray fervently as many did yesterday. My we commune with God in times of quiet and solitude and converse with God about life, holiness, grace, truth, family, friends, revival, the Kingdom of Heaven and life here on earth. May we seek to be in tune with God throughout the day. May offer ourselves to Him in our daily routine so that routine is no more because we begin to understand that God is not routine. He is powerful, wonderful, real, mighty, and routinely unroutine. May we draw near to God. May we humble ourselves. May we pray as a group of ladies did in Southern California, "God, make up there come down here." (See John Ortbergs book, God Is Closer Than You Think). As an American, I am blessed to live in a country that recognizes prayer as an important part of it's fabric. I am grateful for the NDP and and the gatherings that took place throughout the country. However, may we continue in prayer. May we flesh out our prayer for peace, prosperity, helping the poor, being kind, and recognizing God as God and not we as God. May we walk the talk. May the rhetoric have results as I move beyond myself and as you move beyond yourself and into the glorious Kingdom of "God, make up there come down here."

Some History

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
1) The President of the United States has called for a National Day of Prayer every year since 1975.
2) There have been 134 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2008).
3) There have been 56 Presidential Proclamations for a "National Day of Prayer" (1952-2008).
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.