By ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer.
In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer, and in 1988, the first Thursday in May was designated the National Day of Prayer. Through seven decades, the efforts of the NDP Task Forcehave mobilized to observe this day of prayer in all 50 states and in U.S. territories and intercede for the nation.
The president of the U.S. is required by las to sign a proclamation each year encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.
The theme chosen by the Task Force this year is “Pour Out to the God of Hope and Be Filled!” from the scripture found in Romans 15:13 – “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Locally, the National Day of Prayer is sponsored by the Liberal Ministerial Alliance and promoted by local churches, organizations, city and county government, businesses and individuals.
The event will take place at noon Thursday at the Light Park Pavilion at 11th and Kansas in Liberal. This is a live event, and the public is encouraged to attend. The event will also stream on the Leader & Times, KZQD Radio Libertad 105.1 FM, local church and individual Facebook pages and other media sources.
There will be Spanish interpretation for the theme prayer and full prayer guides available in English and Spanish. For those who miss the live event, replays will be available on social media sites.
Individuals will be praying over what is referred to as the Seven Centers of Influence in Society or Seven Mountains of Culture – family, church/religion, business/workplace, education, military, arts, media and entertainment.
The individuals presenting at the event are people of Christian faith within the community and are representing everyone of the centers of influence.
“We will open with presentation of colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic song followed by prayers of repentance, thanksgiving, worship and petition to God on behalf of the church and our nation as a whole,” local NDP organizer Cindy Hall said. “Prayers for Israel, the persecuted church throughout the world, revival, community transformation, upcoming elections and the different demographics within the family.”
With hope being the theme of this year’s NDP, Hall said it is important to have because hope is the anchor of the soul.
“With all the situations going on in the world, there’s a lot of anxiety and question about what’s going on with the economy,” she said. “There’s good things going on within the government and the nation’s restructuring. There’s change, but change a lot of times bring concern, or people have anxiety about that and how it’s going to affect different things. One of the primary focal points and most important is our family structures, the family unit. That’s a priority.”
Hall said prayer made for progress locally in 2024 following Liberal’s NDP event.
“Within the next week, we had a change within our city logo or motto from ‘Crossroads of Commerce’ to ‘From Generosity to Prosperity,’ getting back to our roots and our foundation for the city of Liberal, more than just a historical thing, but also a spiritual foundation there,” she said.
Nationally, 2024 saw an “A Million Women” event at the National Mall in Washington D.C. to pray for America to turn to God and an overturning of the Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion in the mid-70s.
Hall too said many prayers for elections were cast in 2024.
“Without getting into the political realm with the different parties, we were praying for election integrity,” she said. “We did see that this last year. There were changes there and with the new administration and things nationwide. It trickles down through states and local, some very godly things, setting some things back to righteousness and godly order.”
Hall said she believes this is just the beginning.
“A lot of those things are the result of prayer, and we’re seeing revival and transformation with the young people, the young generation that’s starting within our college campuses,” she said. “We were beginning to see that in 2024 and this year as well. It’s growing. We have hope. It seemed like hope was deferred. There was some disappointment, some questions, anxiety, discouragement. We have hope restored.”
Hall said there is always an urgent need for prayer.
“Sometimes, I think as the church or as people who pray, when we see our answers to prayer, we back off a little bit, or we breathe a sigh of relief, but we need to continue making progress, continue praying, continue persevering, praying for our leaders, keeping them covered and our families, those within our community, our spiritual leaders, our pastors,” she said. “Continue to pray. It’s always urgent. Don’t slack off. Don’t let up.”
The national broadcast will be at 7 p.m. Central Thursday on a variety of networks and digital platforms in the U.S. Joining NDP President Kathy Branzell will be Tim Tebow, Samuel Rodriquez and many others. More information can be found at www.nationaldayofprayer.org.
“We’re also looking for an announcement from President Trump and the White House Faith Office for an event at the Capitol of the U.S. this year,” Hall said. “Come join us for united prayer, however you can, in person, livestream or later by replay. The effective, earnest prayer of the righteous person is very powerful.”
Hall emphasized the need for prayer is urgent.
“It doesn’t ever get any less,” she said. “It’s probably more as the time draws near and with everything that’s going on in the world spiritually and naturally.”
