Today, May 4, is the National Day of Prayer this year in the United States. How did this observance come about? On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill into law proclaiming a National Day of Prayer must be declared by each subsequent president at an appropriate date of his or her choice. In 1988, the law was amended so that the National Day of Prayer would be held on the first Thursday of May every year.
While it is wonderful that we have such a day formally set aside for prayer in this country, it is also good for us as Christians and citizens of the kingdom of God to remember that we do not need a law to pray, and we do not need a special day to do it. We can pray any day in any way we want. What a joy and blessing that is. Prayer is something we sometimes take for granted or forget doing. One my pastors once said that when we get to heaven, he thinks we are going to say, “I should have prayed more.”
Well, there is no time like the present to make prayer an integral and regular part of your day, like brushing your teeth or getting dressed. Pray in the morning; pray at night; pray at mealtimes. Those are good routines to have. But let prayer be always on your lips when you think of someone in need, when you are heading into a difficult meeting, when you are grateful for a positive outcome. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). There is no day or time when prayer should not be on our internal agenda. So pray today as a signal to yourself to pray every day. Amen.