Thursday, May 7, 2009 is The National Day of Prayer! Let's Celebrate!

It's Your Day! is a group that I started a few months ago to help people celebrate their special days - their birthdays, their anniversaries, and their Gather anniversaries. I also put in special days, such as federal holidays and religious holidays. I had previously been just sharing those days' information with the group, but as of May 1, I will be sharing that information with all of Gather (not the birthdays and such, but the other special days' information), because I think some of these days are really important for America to know about. Indeed, I think it would be great for the whole world to know about these days! I usually cull the information off of Wikipedia.org and share the link, because I do not usually share the entire article, unless it is a really short article. In any case, you can always click on the link for more information. I hope by sharing this information that you not only learn more, but that you become more aware. Please enjoy! By the way, please feel free to join the group It's Your Day so we can celebrate YOUR special days! Here's the information: http://itsyourday.gather.com/. Let's Celebrate!

Thursday, May 7, 2009 is The National Day of Prayer

from Wikipedia.org:

The National Day of Prayer is a day designated by the United States Congress as a day when people are asked to come together and pray, especially for their country. It was created as a floating holiday in 1952 and fixed on the first Thursday in May by Ronald Reagan.

There have been several national days of prayer in the U.S. before the day was made official in 1952. The Continental Congress issued a day of prayer in 1775 to designate "a time for prayer in forming a new nation". During the Quasi-War with France, President John Adams declared May 9, 1798 as "a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer," during which citizens of all faiths were asked to pray "that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it".^[1] The words prayer and day have been used together in speeches by every U.S. president since the founding of the nation.

The idea originated with the Rev. Billy Graham, who suggested it in the midst of a several-weeks crusade in the nation’s capitol.

A Senate report falsely claims as part of the rationale for the law that prayers were conducted at the Constitutional Convention, which adopted the U.S. Constitution: “When the delegates to the Constitutional Convention encountered difficulties in the writing and formation of a Constitution for this Nation, prayer was suggested and became an established practice at succeeding sessions,” according to the report by the Committee on the Judiciary.

However, Benjamin Franklin suggested prayer, but in his own notes recorded that the convention, “except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.” His suggestion to pray was met politely but with some embarrassment, scholars note, and delegates quickly adjourned.

On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming a National Day of Prayer must be declared by each following president at an appropriate date of his choice. In 1982 a National Prayer Committee formed to coordinate and implement a fixed commemorated day of prayer. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan amended the law decreeing that the National Day of Prayer should be held on the first Thursday of May. A claimed intention of the National Day of Prayer was that it would be a day when members of all faiths could pray together in their own way.^{[citation needed]}

you can read more on this post by clicking the link I provided above.

Here is a Prayer for our Nation, written by Beth Moore, in English and Spanish, from The National Day of Prayer Task Force Web site, and you can learn more by visiting them here:

Padre de la gloria:

Elevamos nuestros ojos hacia tu trono, donde reinas  en justicia.

Tu palabra nos asegura que cuando tu pueblo clama con sinceridad y humildad, nunca darás oído sordo a nuestras plegarias.

Clamamos a ti, buscando tu perdón y tu favor.

Mira nuestra tierra enferma y sánanos, Señor.

Caemos de rodillas al suelo y elevamos los ojos al cielo, porque sabemos de donde viene nuestro socorro.

Une a estos estados nuevamente en devoción a ti y borra cualquier línea divisoria

No nos entregues a nuestros pecados. Danos, más bien, una oración apasionada que conmueva tu corazón.

"Que tu amor inagotable descanse sobre nosotros, oh Señor, mientras ponemos nuestra esperanza en ti".

En el nombre de nuestro Señor y Salvador, Jesucristo

Amén

God Bless America!