National Day of Prayer - May 4, 2023

The Sarah Riggs Humphreys-Mary Silliman Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) reminds everyone that Thursday, May 4, 2023 is our National Day of Prayer. The members of the SRH-MS Chapter join our nation in the National Day of Prayer’s mission to mobilize unified public and personal prayer for America. Together, we pray for peace in our Nation and in the world. We ask God to watch over our nation, grant us patience and love of our fellow humans. We thank God for our families and friends, and we pray that they stay safe and await the promise of a life to come.

National prayer has a long history. On Feb 3, 1952 Evangelist Billy Graham led services for 20,000 people on the steps of the Capitol. He asked people to turn to God in prayer and meditation. A joint resolution for a National Day of Prayer was passed in Congress and President Truman proclaimed Friday, July 4 1952 as a National Day of Prayer. In 1988 President Reagan moved the day to the first Thursday in May and asked our people to “turn to God in prayer and meditation”.

Two Hundred and Forty-eight years ago the Continental Congress issued a proclamation to observe “a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer” on July 20, 1775. Twenty years later, in 1795, George Washington proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for April 30, 1863 as “a day of solemn humility, fasting, and prayer.” It is fitting that we in 2023 take a day to meditate and pray for peace in our dealings with others remembering that we are all brothers and sisters and are truly instruments of peace.

The DAR is a women’s service organization dedicated to historic preservation, education and patriotism. Any woman over 18 who can prove lineal descent to an ancestor who served in the American Revolution is a prospective member. For more information on the DAR visit http://www.sarahriggshumphreysDAR.org