America has been, and continues to be, a “nation of prayer,” President Bush said May 4 in a White House observance on the 55th National Day of Prayer.
“It’s impossible to tell the story of our nation without telling the story of people who pray,” the President said in a morning event. “The first pilgrims stepped boldly onto the shores of a new world, and many of them fell to their knees to give thanks.
“At decisive moments in our history and in quiet times around family tables, we are a people humbled and strengthened and blessed by prayer,” he said.
The observance was the sixth consecutive year Bush has spoken in the White House on the National Day of Prayer. The President also issued a proclamation on the National Day of Prayer on May 3.
An observance was held in a House of Representatives office building the afternoon of May 4, and people gathered in communities across the country to pray.
The National Day of Prayer Task Force estimated more than 40,000 events would occur as part of the observance, which this year was marked with the theme “America, Honor God,” based on 1 Samuel 2:30: “Those who honor me, I will honor.”
Southern Baptist author and conference speaker Henry Blackaby prayed at the event in the White House, using the “Prayer for the Nation” he had written for this year’s observance. Blackaby was the honorary chairman for this year’s National Day of Prayer. A few weeks prior to the day of prayer, he told Baptist Press he considered this year’s observance one of the most crucial in history because ominous threats from terrorists and the moral decay of American society threaten the nation’s future.
Rebecca St. James, the National Day of Prayer’s musical ambassador, sang a theme song, “America, Honor God.” St. James is a member of The Peoples Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Franklin, Tenn.
Other Southern Baptists attending the White House event included Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and former SBC president James Merritt, an Atlanta-area pastor.
Throughout the nation, people gathered at churches and public venues to pray for the nation, government leaders, media, churches, families and schools. Activities ranged from prayer breakfasts, Bible reading marathons, concerts of prayer, rallies, church prayer vigils, student flagpole gatherings and observances held in sports stadiums.
“At a time when so many principles found in scripture have been rejected by society, it’s all the more vital that God’s people stand firmly in defense of the precepts he’s laid out in his word,” National Day of Prayer chairman Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, said. “As we wage this cultural battle, however, none of our efforts are assured success without consistent, fervent prayer for God’s intervention.”