Published: May 01, 2008 11:47 am            

National Day of Prayer

Polite society often looks askance at the thought of publicly calling on the Almighty to help guide us through our national troubled waters.

But that is exactly what today, National Day of Prayer, is all about. By the time you read this our local National Day of Prayer ceremony in front of Pontotoc County Courthouse will probably be over. Joining them in spirit were hundreds of other such events across America.

According to its web site, National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held the first Thursday of May as a way of inviting people of all faiths to pray for our country.

Following in the tradition of Pres. George Washington, an avid prayer, Pres. Harry S. Truman signed a joint Congressional resolution in 1952 specifying a day of national prayer. Today’s is the fifty-seventh such event.

This year’s theme is “Prayer! America’s Strength and Shield” based, the national web site says, on Psalm 28:7 which states: “The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped.”

Shirley Dobson has been heading up the national effort in recent years. About this year’s event she said, “This is a critical time to be in prayer for America. The biblical principles upon which our country was founded are coming under attack in every segment of society. Yet despite this troubling trend we can take heart in the knowledge that God hears and responds to the earnest cries of His people.”

A country that doesn’t seek a higher power is peopled with those who have only themselves to look to for guidance, wisdom and strength. At that point they become gods unto themselves. America’s National Day of Prayer is an effort to ensure such never happens here, and we continue to depend on the true source of our security.

        

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