Biden asks 'for God’s continued guidance’ in National Day of Prayer proclamation
President Joe Biden is calling on Americans to join him in "asking for God's continued guidance, mercy, and protection" in his National Day of Prayer proclamation this week.
The first Thursday of every May is set aside for the National Day of Prayer, an observance in the United States in which people are called to pray for the nation's wellbeing.
In his Wednesday proclamation, Biden, a Catholic, said, "Americans of every religion and background have come together to lift up one another and our Nation in prayer."
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"Throughout America's history, faith and prayer have helped fuel some of the greatest moral missions of our time — from the abolition of slavery to the fight for voting rights and the Civil Rights Movement," Biden stated.
"Many of our Nation's greatest leaders have been motivated by faith to push all of us toward a more perfect Union and to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice."
While people "will never know the full impact of prayer on our Nation or the world," Biden said he and others "remain confident that it makes a profound difference each and every day."
"I call upon the citizens of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faith and conscience, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God's continued guidance, mercy, and protection," the proclamation reads.
Biden stressed that Scripture "tells us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer."
"This year, my prayer for our Nation is that we keep faith that our best days are ahead of us and continue to believe in honesty, decency, dignity, and respect," the proclamation adds. "May we see each other not as enemies but as fellow human beings, each made in the image of God and each precious in His sight."
The National Day of Prayer dates back to 1952 when Congress proposed legislation to enshrine an annual day of prayer, which President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law.
The observance has experienced some legal fights, with the secularist group Freedom From Religion Foundation arguing that the day of prayer violates the U.S. Constitution.
In 2011, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the observance, arguing that the FFRF lacked the standing to sue as they could show no injury resulting from it.
On Thursday, thousands of prayer gatherings will be held at or organized by churches and other community institutions with the help of National Day of Prayer Task Force volunteer coordinators in every state.
On Thursday evening, a special broadcasted National Day of Prayer event will be held, with the theme "Lift Up the Word - Light Up the World," as inspired by 2 Samuel 22:29-31.
The event will be co-hosted by Pastor A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, and National Day of Prayer Task Force President Kathy Branzell.
The broadcast will feature special guests Matthew West, Geoff Eckart, Bishop Robert Stearns, Os Guinness, Tony Perkins, Doug Stringer, Dianne Ogle, Glenn Shepherd and others.
