LouRae Holt | May 3, 2017 | SHARE: 
The first 100 days of the new presidential administration just ended last week, leaving some people encouraged and others discouraged. But all Americans can seek guidance and strength for our nation and its leaders through prayer and repentance in the 66th observance of the National Day of Prayer scheduled for this Thursday, May 4. This year’s theme is “For Your Great Name’s Sake! Hear Us…Forgive Us…Heal Us!” inspired by Daniel 9:19.
There are two big changes in this year’s observance in Washington, D.C. The national prayer will be moving to a primetime evening event, and North Carolina’s own Anne Graham Lotz will be taking over as chairperson this year and will lead America in unified prayer from 7:30-9 p.m. Called “the best preacher in the family” by her father, the Rev. Billy Graham, Lotz offers a national prayer of praise, thanksgiving, confession and repentance on the National Day of Prayer website, including:
“We now turn to You as the God of Our Fathers. You alone are our Hope for the future […]
We confess national addiction to sex. To money. To pleasure. To entertainment. To pornography. To technology. To drugs. To alcohol. To food. To television. To popularity. To ourselves. […]
We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning. […]
We repent of our sin. Please, God of Our Fathers, do not back away from us. Do not remove Your hand of blessing on us. […]
Forgive our sin. Heal our land. For the Glory of Your Great Name…JESUS.” (excerpt)
The annual observance is held the first Thursday of May and invites “people of all faiths to pray for the nation.” It was first established in 1952 by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
The National Day of Prayer Task Force states as its mission to “mobilize prayer in America and to encourage personal repentance and righteousness in the culture.” It has “great significance for us as a nation as it enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call for us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.”
Want to find a prayer event near you? The National Day of Prayer Events page lists 74 events planned for Thursday in North Carolina, including a morning prayer walk and a lunchtime prayer service on Halifax Mall behind the Legislative Building in Raleigh. You can search by zip code to find the location and time of one near you. The evening gathering will be live streamed on the National Day of Prayer website as well. We encourage all North Carolinians to join us in prayer for our nation and its leaders
