Washington, DC  -  On Thursday, May 1st, I will start my Thursday much the same way that I have started every other Thursday morning for the last several years.  I’ll get up, get ready for work and then head out to pick up my friend and neighbor Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Lexington). We’ll commute into Washington, D.C. together and then with about 50 of our friends and colleagues from the present and past, we’ll join together in fellowship and prayer at our weekly Congressional prayer breakfast.

    What makes this particular Thursday so different is that May 1st is the National Day of Prayer, an annual event in which millions of American unite to pray for our country and leaders. The National Day of Prayer first began in 1795 when President George Washington issued a proclamation setting aside a day of public thanksgiving. An annual day of prayer was established by Congress in 1952 and in 1988, President Reagan designated the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in the month of May. This year, will mark the 52nd annual National Day of Prayer.

         Since our Nation's founding, Americans have turned to prayer for inspiration, strength, and guidance. In times of trial, we ask God for wisdom, courage, direction and comfort. We offer thanks for the countless blessings God has provided. And we thank God for sanctifying every human life by creating each of us in His image. As we observe this National Day of Prayer, we call upon the Almighty to continue to bless America and her people.

       This year, with our nation at war, with families separated while loved ones serve overseas, and with thousands of people out of work, it may seem as though there is not much of a reason to give thanks.  But as we look deeper, we realize that our country is truly blessed.  We have our freedoms and the ability to liberate others so they can experience those freedoms too.  Our country has just welcomed home seven Prisoners of War (POWs) who were embraced by their families and a grateful nation. And most of all, we live in a country where we have the right and the freedom to do exactly what our Founding Fathers before us did – join together in prayer to seek the wisdom of God.

       The power of those prayers unites a collective nation seeking guidance, reassurance and comfort in today’s difficult times. It is estimated that last year approximately two million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers on the National Day of Prayer.  This year is proving to be no different. At noon on May 1st, men, women and children will gather at state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls and in schools, businesses, churches and homes to join in prayer.

         While a lot of the services you will see or hear about on the news will be held in larger cities, there are many services being held across southern Missouri.  In Cape Girardeau, several hundred will gather for the annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.  The same holds true for the prayer breakfast held in Rolla or the public prayer service at the courthouse in Farmington. Others, like students in Sikeston and Jackson, will pray around their flagpoles. Wherever you are or whatever you are doing, this day provides each of us with the opportunity to remember both those who are suffering and those who have found joy as we gather to pray for peace throughout the world.

      Avery Brooke, an author of many books dealing with prayer, once wrote “Prayer is simply being in touch with God.  To pray all the time is to be in touch with God all the time.”  This year, as we remember our nation and others throughout the world on the National Day of Prayer, I wanted to share with you Brooke’s prayer from Plain Prayers for a Complicated World.  The title as well as the prayer are more than fitting for the times we are living in today.  It truly is a prayer for our nation. 

       “Oh Lord, we come to You, that You will protect and watch over us as a nation, that You will send an army of angels to enfold us in their wings. We pray that You will give us strength for the times ahead. Please show us Your divine love and providence in the days, weeks and months ahead.

          O Christ, we love this land. We wish it were always a simple love and often it is, but life has become complicated. Good gets mixed up with evil and mountains of laws and regulations and numbers and systems get in our way when we wish to make everything work as it should. When things go wrong it becomes easy to give up, to blame other people, and to do nothing.

        O Christ, give us the unashamed courage to believe in the highest and the best ideals of our country, and enough passionate patience to make them come true.”