National Day of Prayer 2013

Today is the day designated at the 2013 National Day of Prayer.

In 1952 Congress passed a bill that was signed on 17 April 1952 by President Truman. It required the president to annually declare a National Day of Prayer. In 1988 the law was amended to make that date the 1st Thursday in May. Today's Day of Prayer the 62nd.

In 1989 a National Day of Prayer Task Force was formed. Each year they chose a theme & Scripture verse for the event. This year the theme is "Pray for America" & the Scripture verse is Matthew 12:21, "In His Name the nations will put their hope."
Now more than ever we need to join in to prayer for our nation & for it to return to its Judeo-Christian roots that it was founded on. We are seeing an unpresidented attack on Christianity by the Obama administration. Under his watch he has attacked religious freedom. Among the ways he has done so is through the HHS mandate forcing coverage of birth control in insurance to be provided by organizations that are opposed to it. The Obama Administration has declared Christians to be terrorists & is now banning members of the military, including chaplains from sharing their faith, clearly an attempt to purge Christians for the military. We see the media covering up the horror story of Kermit Gosnell. We see Planned parenthood getting huge amounts of our tax monies to support their "culture of death" agenda. These are only a few examples.
So please take some extra time to pray for our nation. Repent for the sins of this nation, especially abortion. Intercede for our officials that they will turn towards God, that their hearts will be changed & they will repent of the evil they have done. Pray for our Godly leaders that God will strengthen them to remain faithful. Ask God to raise up godly men & women to lead our country on all levels. Ask God to purify your heart & strengthen your resolve to do your part to build a true "Culture of Life" & defeat the darkness & 'culture of death" that have a grip on our nation.

As a part of your prayer, include this prayer written by the 2013 Honorary Chairman, Greg Laurie:

Father, we come to You to pray for our nation, the United States of America.
How You have blessed us through the years, Lord! We rightly sing, “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” Yet we see trouble in our culture today. We see the breakdown of the family, crippling addictions, and random acts of horrific violence.
Lord, we need Your help in America. In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have “forgotten God.” But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.
Scripture tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Lord, in Your mercy, we ask that You would exalt our country again. We have had a number of great awakenings in America. We have experienced times of refreshing, and revivals that changed not only the spiritual but also the moral landscape. As the psalmist said, “Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6)
That is our prayer for America today, Lord. Send a mighty spiritual awakening that will turn the hearts of men and women, boys and girls back to you. You have told us if we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will forgive our sins and heal our land. (2 Chronicles7:14)
Forgive us today, Lord, and heal this troubled land that we love so much.
We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!