Presidential Prayer Team to Host Largest Virtual Prayer Event in Nation’s History

The Presidential Prayer Team will host the largest virtual prayer event in United States history on Thursday to commemorate the National Day of Prayer.

“We’re going all-out in creating a virtual prayer room,” Jim Bolthouse, president of the Presidential Prayer Team, says. “It’s an online room, a personal online room that you can set up and you can sit there in your office, your home, anywhere with a device, phone device, a tablet or computer and participate in praying for a country.”

Click here to join the event.

Bolthouse says an online prayer guide will help users pray for the president and other government officials.

People can also listen to how others are praying.

“[People tell us that] it’s comforting to know that when I hear somebody praying, they pray and are concerned about the same thing I am,” Bolthouse says. “And it just makes the world a lot smaller when you can hear Christians with the same concerns and praying the same way. So that’s part of it. It really is an experience that I hope that when they go there, they’ll spend 10 to 15 minutes, a half-hour or longer, just taking time to methodically pray for our leaders of our country.

“And then of course, we’d love to have them tell their friends because the more that we get people involved, the more we’re getting people to pray, and that’s our goal. Our goal is to reach anyone who has a living God living within their heart to say, ‘Let us help you direct your prayers for leadership.'”

Listen to the podcast to hear more about the history behind the event and how you can get involved.

Click here to pray with other Christians around the country.



Trump Calls on Americans to Use the ‘Power of Prayer’ to End Violence and Protect Religious Liberty

About 100 people—religious leaders, Trump administration officials, and their guests—celebrated the “power of prayer” at the White House Wednesday night ahead of the day set aside annually for Americans of all faiths to pray for thanks and guidance.

“America will be a nation that believes forever, and we certainly believe—more than anyone—the power of prayer,” President Donald J. Trump declared in the State Dining Room before continuing with an unscripted flourish: “It’s the most powerful thing there is.”

In his opening remarks preceding the National Day of Prayer, the president welcomed representatives of various faiths, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus.

“Tonight we break bread together united by our love of God, and we renew our resolve to protect the sacred freedom of religion—all of us,” he said.

The president also acknowledged the recent religiously motivated attacks both in the United States and abroad.

“All of us in this room send our love and prayers to the Jewish Americans wounded at the Chabad of Poway shooting in California,” he said. “And our hearts break for the life of Laurie Gilbert-Kaye, who was so wickedly taken from us.”

“We mourn for the Christians murdered in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday and grieve for the Muslims murdered at their mosques in New Zealand,” he added. “Here at home, we also remember the three historically black churches burned recently in Louisiana and the horrific shooting last year at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.”

The roomful of staff and supporters of Trump’s religious liberty policies applauded when he called for an end to violence and terrorism against people of all faiths.

Many well-known evangelical Christian leaders attended the White House dinner. They were perhaps his most enthusiastic supporters, greeting the president warmly as he and First Lady Melania Trump entered the room hand-in-hand. Some of them included Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, James and Shirley Dobson, Jentezen Franklin, Jerry Falwell Jr., Franklin Graham, Mike Huckabee, Robert Jeffress, Alveda King, Johnnie Moore, Ralph Reed and Paula White.

Saluting their approval of his record, he referenced what many of them acknowledge originally motivated their support for his candidacy.

“I’m thrilled to report that tomorrow the Senate will confirm the 100th federal judge through the court system,” he announced. “Under my administration, we’re getting to a level where we’re going to be breaking records with respect to the judiciary, which means a lot to the people in this room who were treated very poorly. With time you’ll see what happens.” {eoa}

Click here to read the rest of this story from our content partners at CBN News.



‘Prayer Works Miracles and Prayer Saves Lives’: Trump Addresses National Day of Prayer

President Donald Trump praised the miracle-working power of prayer during his National Day of Prayer address in the White House Rose Garden.

“Prayer works miracles, and prayer saves lives,” Trump told the crowd.

Trump opened his remarks with a prayer for Venezuela and invited the victims of the recent terrorist attack in San Diego to speak, as well as a woman who found Christ through a faith-based opioid addiction recovery center.

The guests all shared how prayer made an impact in their lives.

Trump thanked charismatic leaders including Paula White Cain as he praised the value of religious liberty.

“These United States will forever be strengthened by the goodness and the grace and the eternal glory of God,” Trump said.

Watch the video to see the full ceremony, including worship led by Jonathan Cain, remarks by Vice President Mike Pence, First Lady Melania Trump, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of the Chabad of Poway, among others.



How You Can Find God’s Will When ‘Not Yet’ Looks Like ‘No’

Knowing God’s will can be hard. In our fast-paced culture, we want the answer, and we want it now! But God often works through a process.

In part 2 of this three-part series on myths about God’s will, we’ll look at when a no is really a not yet. Read part 1 here.

When ‘Not Yet’ Looks Like ‘No’

This is a great struggle, as we see it displayed thorough the lives of many biblical characters. Take David, for instance: Samuel anointed him as a young man to be the next king of Israel. How excited he must have been! He was quickly elevated after he killed Goliath and became commander of Israel’s armies—the throne seemed like the next step. But King Saul got very jealous of David and tried to kill him, sending 300 trained assassins after him. David spent the next eight years running for his life!

How hopeless he must have felt at times, wondering if the promise of becoming king would ever come true. But God didn’t forget His word, and suddenly—as quickly as David fled from Saul—David was elevated. David became king in one day, achieving this God-given dream, and reigned for a total of 40 years (see 2 Sam. 1–2).

His destiny was sure all along, despite the hardship and delay. All he needed to do was keep following the Lord, who was certain to lead him to “green pastures” and “still waters” (Ps. 23:2)—and it is the same for us!

Joseph’s Story

Joseph is another great example. He had a dream as a young man that his parents and brothers would bow down to him. He shared this with his family, but they became angry. Genesis 37:8b tells us his brothers “hated him even more” and conspired to sell him into slavery in Egypt.

Later in Egypt, Joseph was imprisoned after his master’s wife falsely accused him (Gen. 39); and then while in prison, he was forgotten about for two more years after he correctly interpreted the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants (see Gen. 40–41). Scripture says that God’s word “tested [Joseph]” during this time (Ps. 105:19). Would Joseph give up his dream because people mistreated him, or keep believing that the Lord would bring about what He had promised?

Joseph, too, was elevated in a day (Gen. 41:14, 39-41), and a few years later, his whole family bowed to him. His brothers were scared that Joseph would retaliate against them for how they mistreated him, but he responded with a hopeful message, saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20b). Isn’t it amazing how God can work things for our good (Rom. 8:28), even as we wait in the queue of not yet?

Going Against Our Have-It-All-Now Culture

In a day and age when few things are worth waiting for (instant messaging, fast food, instant downloads), God’s timetable is often quite different. He sees time from eternity, and “with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8b). Instead of getting discouraged about waiting, we can cling to His promises, while keeping in mind that He is Lord over how and when they will be fulfilled.

Joseph could never have foreseen the great deliverance God would work for him, and for the nations of the earth, through the persecution he endured. Every misstep by others was actually moving him one step closer to his destiny! David would likely not have been the great leader that he was, and would not have written all his psalms if he had not spent years running for his life. It was a really hard time, but God brought him out of it because he didn’t quit.

Why does God sometimes delay the answer we are seeking, even if we know it’s something that’s in His will and is good for both us and the kingdom (like a ministry opportunity, marriage or a healing)?

Potential Reasons

Sometimes we’re not ready for the fulfillment of the promise yet, or others aren’t ready; and sometimes God is using the delay to build our faith and work out a greater miracle. The Lord is always faithful to fulfill His promise in our lives, although it often requires perseverance from us in its delaying process.

Other times, God blocks certain situations by His answer, and the “no” is truly a “no.” However, these are moments we are invited to dialogue with our Father (and trusted counselors) to discern if that’s truly the case. This is not an attempt to provide “easy” answers and excuses when things are hard, but rather an invitation to press into God, in faith, instead of losing heart at the first “no” we receive when pursuing our goals.

God is good and always has our best interests at heart—even when our emotions and circumstances say otherwise. Press into Him today! “You shall seek [Him] and find [Him], when you search for [Him] with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

What “not yet” do you believe is a “no” in your life? {eoa}

A Detroit native who was raised in Vermont and Connecticut, Adam Wittenberg worked as a newspaper journalist until 2012, when he moved to Kansas City to complete the Intro to IHOPKC internship. Afterwards, he earned a four-year certificate in House of Prayer Leadership from IHOPU and is now on full-time staff in the Marketing department at IHOPKC. Adam is also active in evangelism and has a vision to reach people everywhere with the good news of Jesus Christ.

This post originally appeared at .



7 Spiritual Keys to Fulfill Your God-Given Assignment

In today’s culture of increasing identity confusion, there is a need for believers to understand and model a healthy identity and purpose that is Christ-centered and kingdom-focused. When we know who we are, why we’re here and where we’re going, we will offer to the world a picture of what a true son and daughter of the kingdom looks like. Here are seven keys that may help start the process in learning how to know your true identity in the kingdom of God in order to fulfill your call and assignment.

1. Determine to love Jesus more than anyone or anything. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. We become what we focus on—who we focus on. As we fix our eyes on Jesus and determine to please Him above all else, our hearts and affections will be rightly placed. In order to make wise choices and determine God’s will, loving Jesus first and foremost is foundational to everything else. We will never know who we really are apart from learning who Jesus really is. We are to be a reflection of Him.

2. Walk in the fear of the Lord, not the fear of man. Once we have settled to love Jesus most, we can expect to be tested in it. The fear of the Lord keeps us faithful to His purposes even when others may misunderstand us, mock us or challenge us. Though I can walk with sensitivity towards people’s needs and perspectives, I don’t have to bow to them or change my beliefs for validation. Especially in the current atmosphere of hostility towards those who seek godly truth, we must guard ourselves from compromise at the altar of “acceptance.” Walking in a healthy fear of the Lord provides wisdom, protection and confidence in all things eternal and right.

3. Seek a reputation in heaven more than on the earth. In today’s social media, the more friends you have, the more tweets you post and the more “likes” you get, the more likely you are to draw a crowd. But getting attention is a lot different than having influence. Standing out in the crowd isn’t hard to do in our shock-driven, entertainment-saturated culture. What’s a lot more challenging is saying or doing something that will cause heaven to move on your behalf to change entire cities and even nations. Sometimes those in the secret place are changing history a lot more than those in the public eye. Seek to move heaven first and then watch the earth respond.

4. Know your spiritual gifts. You have been given a measure of spiritual gifts that have marked you from creation. The seven gifts listed in Romans 12:3-8 point to the motivations and passions your heavenly Father put within you from birth: prophesying, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading and showing mercy. When you can identify your primary “motivational gift,” you can better know your strengths and weaknesses and where you best fit in the body of Christ. Though these gifts do not necessarily define who you are, they do point to what you’re good at and what will bear the most fruit in your life.

5. Know your call. Where your spiritual gifts explain your primary motivation, your calling is what you were born for, or better yet, who you were born to reach. God’s priority is always people, and our calling will be a reflection of His heart to reach someone. This may take a lifetime to fulfill, but you will know it is His call because it continues to burn in your heart, keep you up at night and never quite goes away regardless of challenges or setbacks. It will require faith and is bigger than you are, but your call is what draws your heart and inspires your journey.

6. Know your present assignment. If your life story was written as a book, your calling would be the title. Your spiritual gifts would shine in the unique writing style and illustrations. The individual chapters would highlight the various assignments throughout your journey. Specific assignments will come and go and serve to advance the kingdom, increasing the measure of grace on your life to ultimately fulfill your call. Some may seem like side roads to your destination, but all will lead to His purposes as you trust His heart in knowing how to prepare and equip you.

7. Measure your success by the fruit. Regardless of our call, gifts and assignments, the true measure of success will be in the fruit that follows us. If we are walking in the fullness of our identity, the people around us will recognize it, grow from it and encounter Christ through it. God’s grace will flow out of us and will exponentially increase in those around us. Look for disciples, not just followers. Look for reproduction, not just reputation. Look for transformation that lasts, not just a fascination that quickly fades.

Ultimately, knowing who you are is not about “finding yourself,” but losing yourself in order to find Christ. Seek to know His heart above your own and trust His plans in molding and shaping your life to be a perfect representation of Him. There won’t be any identity confusion. In the end, the world won’t see you anyway; just Him! {eoa}

Wanda Alger is a field correspondent with Intercessors for America. She ministers with her husband in Winchester, Virginia. Follow her blog at .



You Don’t Have to Be in the Spotlight to Impact Thousands for the Kingdom

One of the most selfless, humblest individuals I have ever known is my wife’s aunt Marie. At the young age of 14, Marie Johnsrud accepted Jesus’ call to be a missionary. She spent the next several years training and preparing herself for the mission field. She went to business college and learned to use a typewriter. She learned to play the piano, accordion and organ so she could bring worship music to those she served. She diligently studied the Bible and attended Bible college in Seattle. And she did all of this while serving her local church.

Finally, in the fall of 1945, she departed for mission work in Africa. For the next 35 years, she served the people of Upper Volta (now called Burkina Faso), part of French West Africa. Marie traveled 7,000 miles to reach her new home. When she first arrived, she worked with the Bible translation team and cared for the children of other missionaries. She lived at times in the bush and at times in the city, quickly adapting to the culture and the African way of life. It wasn’t long before her team produced the first translation of the Bible into the language of the Mossi, the largest ethnic group in the area.

During her years in Africa, Marie ministered to and nurtured a broken generation. She left with reluctance after she completed her 35th year but felt God was leading her to return home to Tacoma, Washington, and her family. When her sister picked her up at the airport, she asked, “Marie, where is your luggage?”

Marie answered in her typical, pragmatic way: “Well, I don’t have any luggage. I have everything I need right here.” Marie was carrying two brown paper sacks that contained everything she owned. She had given everything else away to the people she served in Africa.

Her youngest sister, Lorraine, had worked hard to set up a fully furnished apartment for Marie in a seniors’ facility, and so Marie settled into retirement. For her that meant on Mondays she taught English classes to immigrants, on Tuesdays she worked in the church offices doing anything she was asked, on Wednesdays she attended noon prayer meetings at the church and took care of little boys after school, on Thursdays she went to the mission to serve food to the hungry and on Fridays she helped elderly people in countless ways. Serving others was a part of who she was. She honored everyone she met with her service.

Years passed, and Marie received an invitation to return to Africa for an event to commemorate her missionary service. When she arrived at the venue, Marie was convinced she and her sisters had misunderstood the event details. The building was not a church as she had expected; it was a stadium filled with thousands of people. When Marie went up to the platform, thousands of Africans jumped to their feet, all of them chanting, “Mother! Mama!” Marie had never had a husband or children of her own. She never owned property or had a bank account. Yet she had impacted thousands because she served and honored the people of what is now Burkina Faso.

That stadium full of people testified of Marie’s 35 years of ministry, her selflessness, her open home and her open heart. Marie had mothered, nursed and nurtured God’s hidden gold, and because she chose to honor them, the lives of thousands of people were transformed. During my time with Marie, I eagerly listened to the stories she told of God’s provision and of the precious people she served. Never once do I remember her being the center of the story. She always spoke about how God worked and how she saw Him shining through the faces of those she served.

Marie willingly gave up everything she had to serve others. If she had extra money, she would use it to bless others—she would never use it for herself. I have met many wonderful people of God who give their all to serve others. And in each case, they are the most blessed people I know. Then I look at the other side of the equation—people who are living large and getting their name out there. They are “the greatest” and know no god but the money they earn, but their lives are hollow. They do not know what it means to serve others. Like the rich man in Luke 16, they will never know what it is to walk with Abraham and sit at the feet of Jesus. {eoa}

This article is adapted from I Choose Honor: The Key to Relationships, Faith, and Life (Charisma House, 2019) by Rich Wilkerson Sr. Wilkerson is the founder of Peacemakers and the senior pastor of Trinity Church in Miami, Florida. He is also an evangelist and author. Since 1973, Wilkerson has ministered to youths and families through evangelism and local church ministry. His humorous style and power-packed speaking have been the keys to seeing thousands turn to Christ. More than 1.5 million students have attended his presentations on over 1600 public school campuses throughout the United States and Canada. The Wilkersons also serve as chancellors at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wilkerson and his wife, Robyn, are ministering in the heart of Miami and continue to be committed to the local community through cutting-edge ministry outreaches. The Wilkerson’s have been married for over 40 years and have four sons, three daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.



Pat Robertson Calls Young-Earth Creationism ‘Embarrassing,’ ‘Nonsense’

Pat Robertson denounced young-earth creationism—the view that God created the earth roughly 6,000 years ago—as “embarrassing” and “nonsense” on Tuesday’s episode of The 700 Club. Robertson’s remarks came during a question and answer segment, in which he responded to a viewer named Sheila who wrote, “Pat, I learned in church that the time of creation was 6,000 years ago. How does that work, compared to science saying dinosaurs are thousands or millions of years old?”

Robertson replied:

One of the reasons I have added a course in what’s called cosmology to the curriculum at Regent School of Divinity is that I wanted to counter this business. There was a Bishop Ussher who added up all the years the Bible speaks about between Adam and Eve and us, and he added up 6,000 years. Well, the truth is that you know the dinosaurs were extinct maybe 200, or 100, or 50—excuse me, I’ll get it right, about 50 billion years ago. And this planet has been around much longer than that. There’s a course that they were trying to hustle around called “Creation Science.” It was just nonsense. And it was so embarrassing. So we wanted to make sure we told the truth.

You know, this universe that we live in is 14 billion years old, and there’s no question about it. And we have tremendous geological records and all the rest of it. And that 6,000-year stuff just doesn’t compute. But we as Christians need to know the truth. When you know the truth, you stand in awe of the God who created everything. That’s His name. His name is He who caused everything to be. He brought it all into being—the vast solar system and the galaxies and the stars. There are about a billion trillion stars outside of our sun in the universe. It’s huge! So let’s give God credit for what He did and not try to limit him to 6,000 years, all right?

To hear Robertson’s remarks, watch the 700 Club episode embedded above. He begins discussing creationism shortly before the 45-minute mark.



You Can’t Accurately Interpret the Bible Without This Perspective

One of my favorite artists paints amazing pictures of biblical text using the text itself to make the picture. In other words when he paints a picture of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, he uses the Hebrew text in different sizes and colors to bring forth the artwork. Each letter upon the canvas becomes a part of the greater picture. If you stand back from the painting, all you see is a beautiful piece of artwork, but as you get closer you see that the entire painting is made up of text from the Holy Scriptures. And if you get even closer, you see the beautiful scribal work that forms each individual letter.

As I was reading the Bible this week, I was thinking about this artist and his work and how beautiful it was that he could visualize the final picture and put all of those individual tiny letters of different colors in the right order and the correct place to become a part of the whole. His artwork is viewed first as the whole picture, and then as you get closer, you see all of the small parts that together make the whole picture visible.

As I looked at one of these pictures, I realized once again how the Bible is very much a work of art just as these pictures are. Every letter, word, sentence, phrase, paragraph, page, chapter and book in the Bible was perfectly designed by the master artist. Only when each letter, word, sentence, phrase, paragraph, page, chapter and book are in their right place is the picture able to be seen as intended. So we start with the whole Bible and as we get closer we see the fine detail of each smaller part that brings our focus to the exquisite beauty that makes the Bible such a unique piece of artwork.

The more I thought about this concept, the more, I realized just how important it was that we saw each letter written in Scripture not individually and separate but as part of the whole text. While an individual phrase might be beautiful on its own, its full beauty can only be recognized and viewed when it is in its proper place and context.

Unfortunately for many Bible readers the full context of G-D’s artistry is never seen because passages of the Bible are removed from their full context as if to be displayed as a completely separate work of art. The Bible is divided into Old and New Testaments, The Gospels are separated from the epistles, and even the epistles are divided by authors as if they were not inspired by the same G-D. The more we divide the parts of the Bible into individual works, the less we see of the absolute beauty of the original designed masterpiece.

To often today people start by looking close up and focusing in on the tiny individual letters of the picture and never see the whole painting. Verses then become completely out of the context of the original design, and while these small letters or even sections are beautiful, they are not complete and cannot be understood totally because they are not viewed as part of the entire work.

The reason so many people claim to believe in the same Bible yet are divided into so many different denominations is because each is viewing the individual letters and believing that they are seeing the complete masterpiece. The body of Messiah will only become truly one when we step back from staring at parts of the whole and embrace the absolute beauty of the complete intended masterpiece from Genesis to Revelation, believing that every letter, phrase, sentence, paragraph, page, chapter and book is relevant to us today if we are going to see what G-D intended the painting to be. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer and Jesus is to Christianity as Pasta is to Italians.



Prophet Says He Prophesied an Earthquake 10 Days Before It Happened

In a recent YouTube video, Global Fire Ministries International’s Jeff Jansen says he prophesied a coming earthquake which happened 10 days later. From April 11-14, Jansen—accompanied by James Goll and Wesley and Stacey Campbell—was ministering at The Voice Global Fire Ministries Prophetic Summit in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. On April 14, Jansen says he received a prophetic word based on Ezekiel 37.

“As we were transitioning out of the worship time into the word, Wesley was getting ready to preach, and we got caught up into this swirl of the Holy Ghost and I started prophesying about Ezekiel 37,” Jansen says. “Ezekiel 37 [is] about the valley of dry bones and there’s a new eagle bird coming and a brand new Ezekiel type company that’s arising in the earth and they’re going to have the power to raise the dead much like Paul Cain had talked about with the stadium vision. But that this new Ezekiel company was going to have resurrection power.”

The video features an audio clip of Jansen’s prophecy from the event. He says, “I’m telling you, all of heaven is listening. All of the earth is listening. Listen to me, I see this 37. It’s Ezekiel 37, but it’s also a revelation: three seven. … This army is rising today. I prophesy, according to Ezekiel 37, … 3.7 on the Richter scale. … 3.7 for resurrection power. … So Lord shake the earth. We release the word of the Lord, as Paul Cain released the word of the Lord. As Bob Jones released the word of the Lord.”

Dyersburg, Tennessee, was the site of a 3.7 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, April 24. WTOC11 reports the earthquake left “little to no damage” to the community. Dyersburg is roughly 200 miles west of Murfreesboro, where Jansen delivered the prophetic word. Jansen says this earthquake confirms the validity of his prophetic word.

“This is a powerful confirming word that even the earth confirmed by a 3.7 earthquake that happened just days after I gave this prophetic word,” Jansen says. “God bless you. Get ready. God is raising up a new breed eagle and you’re part of that glory generation.”

He says the takeaway from this confirmation is that God is raising up “new eagles” that will be able to raise the dead.

“I believe that God is raising up a brand new eagle … that carries a new sound and this Ezekiel company will raise the dead,” Jansen says. “These new eagles are not just prophesying eagles, but they move in the spirit and power of Elijah for running.”

Watch the video to hear the rest of Jansen’s prophecy.



WATCH: Pastors, Politicians Address America for the National Day of Prayer

Internationally renowned faith leaders will address the United States for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 2, in a tradition that began nearly 250 years ago.

“Americans have always found power and unity through prayer,” says President Donald Trump. “In 1988, the Congress, by Public Law 100-307, called on the president to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a ‘National Day of Prayer.’ Today, on this National Day of Prayer, we once again come together to give thanks to Almighty God for the bountiful blessings He has bestowed on our great nation and to ask for His unfailing counsel. We also acknowledge our dependence on God’s love to guide our families, communities and our country away from harm and toward abundance and peace.”

Events are scheduled around the country on Thursday and will culminate in an address featuring Andrew and Norine Brunson, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Rev. Anthony B. Thompson and Julio Arriola, among others.

The White House will broadcast a ceremony at 11 a.m. ET. WATCH it here.

The National Observance will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and conclude at 9:30 p.m. ET. WATCH it here.

To commemorate the event, Trump issued a proclamation:

Our mation acknowledges that religious liberty is a natural right, given to us by our Creator, not a courtesy that government extends to us. The First Amendment recognizes the freedom of religion and safeguards this right against government infringement. The United States’ steadfast commitment to upholding religious freedom has ensured that people of different faiths can pray together and live in peace as fellow American citizens. We have no tolerance for those who disrupt this peace, and we condemn all hate and violence, particularly in our places of worship.

Throughout our mation’s history, Americans have consistently turned to God for guidance at pivotal moments. In 1775, the Continental Congress first declared a day of prayer, asking American patriots throughout the colonies to pray in earnest for divine help in forming our Republic. Seventy-five years ago this June, President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the mation in prayer as courageous Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He prayed: “Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our mation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor … Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.” Today, we also pray for strength for our nation and our Armed Forces as we face new challenges at home and abroad.

Our nation’s honored tradition of prayer has sustained us and strengthened our trust that God will continue to watch over and accompany us through the best of times and the darkest hours. May we as Americans never forget the power of prayer and the greatness of our Creator. On this National Day of Prayer, let each of us, according to our own faiths, call upon God for His guidance and express our gratitude for the love and grace He bestows on us and our country.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 2, 2019, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite the citizens of our nation to pray, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, in thanksgiving for the freedoms and blessings we have received, and for God’s guidance and continued protection as we meet the challenges before us.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

Several faith leaders, politicians and Christian organizations shared their prayers via social media: