National Day of Prayer

Statement

As we gather as one Nation, under God, today to focus on prayer, there is a significant day in our nation's history that I would like for all us to reflect upon, and that is June 6, 1944--D-Day.

On this significant day, President Franklin Roosevelt did not shy away from publically expressing our need for God. In fact, he brought God to the frontline of our country's strengths and vulnerabilities. After the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, President Roosevelt led the entire nation in a prayer. Not a moment of silence. Not a presidential statement. Not even a victory speech. But an actual, humbling prayer.

A prayer in which Americans across the entire nation joined, showing reverence to Our Lord.

On that same day, the president of the department store Lord & Taylor closed every single one of his stores and sent his employees home to pray. The New York Daily News threw out its lead articles and printed the Lord's Prayer on its front page. The New York Stock Exchanges paused for a time of prayer. The New York Times printed a prayer editorial. And the entire city of Columbus came to a complete stop for 5 minutes at 7:30 that evening for prayer.

Because within that moment, we as a nation understood that even with all our military might, we still needed the help and guidance of Our Lord. We all knew we needed prayer.

As our nation moves forward, we must remember that our Founding Fathers created a country that reflects the divine influence that God put in all of us. It is our responsibility to ensure God remains at the core of our national discourse and moral compass, because removing God removes our blessings, our freedoms and our justice.

It is my prayer that we continue to lead lives that are focused on the bending of our knees and the humbling of our hearts in the solemn recognition that life is about something, and someone, greater and more eternal than ourselves.

In the spirit of Psalms 145, and in honor of a country that believes in the power of prayer, may the United States remain a land that forever puts our hope in His Name. Please join me today, and every day, in prayer for our great nation and its people.

Praise be to Our Lord!

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