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National Day of Prayer set for May 7
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By Jennifer Wimmer
The National Day of Prayer will be observed Thursday, May 7, uniting communities across the country for a collective time of prayer.
Under federal law, the president proclaims a National Day of Prayer each year.
This year, organizers selected “Glorify God Among the Nations, Seeking Him in All Generations” as the theme, which points to 1 Chronicles 16:24, “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.”
Events are planned Thursday in churches, courthouses and other community spaces nationwide, with people from a variety of faith backgrounds gathering together for a shared time of prayer for the country. A 90-minute national broadcast is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT, featuring prayer and worship led by Christian leaders addressing a range of challenges affecting public life. It will stream on the National Day of Prayer website at nationaldayofprayer.org.
Although earlier calls to prayer date back to the nation’s founding, the annual observance was codified in 1952, when President Harry S. Truman signed it into law during the Korean War. Calls to prayer began in 1775, when the Continental Congress set aside days for fasting and prayer during the Revolutionary era.
President Ronald Reagan signed an amended law in 1988, setting the observance on the first Thursday of May. The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued to challenge the constitutionality of the observance in 2011, which was unsuccessful.
The National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private group founded in 1983 by Vonette Bright, coordinates about 35,000 events nationwide each year. Shirley Dobson led the NDP Task Force for 25 years, and Kathy Branzell is the current president.
A larger observance is planned 10 days later, when President Trump is set to host the National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 17, at the National Mall.
The event was announced Feb. 5 at the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast. President Trump described it as an opportunity to “rededicate America as one nation under God.” This unifying call is timed alongside celebrations marking 250 years of the nation’s independence from British tyranny, a struggle shaped in part by the desire for religious freedom.
“Prayer is America’s superpower,” President Trump said at the breakfast, framing the May 17 observance as both a spiritual moment and a centerpiece of the Freedom 250 commemoration.
The daylong event, spanning from sunrise to sunset, will include worship services, personal testimonies, music performances and a unified time of prayer. It is expected to attract crowds from across the country, with live-stream access available for churches and groups unable to attend in person.
In advance of the May 17 jubilee, the White House introduced the “America Prays” initiative, encouraging 1 million participants to dedicate one hour each week to prayer for the nation. The effort also calls on people to meet regularly in small groups of at least 10 for prayer sessions.
The May 17 occasion is part of a broader Freedom 250 initiative, a series of events recognizing the nation’s founding that will continue through December 2026.
Christian clergy influenced early American political thought more than a century before the Constitution was ratified. On May 31, 1638, Rev. Thomas Hooker preached in Hartford that “the foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of people,” drawing from Deuteronomy 1:13-17.
His message contributed to Connecticut’s Fundamental Orders of 1639, widely regarded as the colonies’ first written constitution. Years later, when asked who influenced the ideas behind the new republic, President John Adams pointed to clergy, including Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper and Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew.
Adams also named evangelist Rev. George Whitefield and Rev. Charles Chauncy among those who helped shape early thought. Scholars have noted that themes later reflected in the Declaration of Independence were already being preached in colonial sermons before 1763.
In 1750, Rev. Jonathan Mayhew delivered a sermon opposing tyranny that helped define the moral case for the American Revolution. It also inspired the phrase “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” later considered by Jefferson, Adams and Franklin for the national seal. The message remains present in national calls to prayer today.
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