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The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 29, 2011
Presidential
Proclamation--National Day of Prayer
Throughout our history, Americans have
turned to prayer for strength, inspiration, and solidarity.
Prayer has played an important role in
the American story and in shaping our Nation's leaders. President
Abraham Lincoln once said, "I have been driven many times upon my knees
by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My
own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the
day." The late Coretta Scott King recounted a particularly
difficult night, during the Montgomery bus boycott, when her husband,
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received a threatening phone
call and prayed at the kitchen table, saying, "Lord, I have nothing
left. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I
can't face it alone." Dr. King said, in that moment of prayer, he
was filled with a sense of comfort and resolve, which his wife credited
as a turning point in the civil rights movement.
It is thus fitting that, from the
earliest years of our country's history, Congress and Presidents have
set aside days to recognize the role prayer has played in so many
definitive moments in our history. On this National Day of
Prayer, let us follow the example of President Lincoln and Dr.
King. Let us be thankful for the liberty that allows people of
all faiths to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their
conscience, and let us be thankful for the many other freedoms and
blessings that we often take for granted.
Let us pray for the men and women of our
Armed Forces and the many selfless sacrifices they and their families
make on behalf of our Nation. Let us pray for the police
officers, firefighters, and other first responders who put themselves
in harm's way every day to protect their fellow citizens. And let
us ask God for the sustenance and guidance for all of us to meet the
great challenges we face as a Nation.
Let us remember in our thoughts and
prayers those who have been affected by natural disasters at home and
abroad in recent months, as well as those working tirelessly to render
assistance. And, at a time when many around the world face
uncertainty and unrest, but also hold resurgent hope for freedom and
justice, let our prayers be with men and women everywhere who seek
peace, human dignity, and the same rights we treasure here in America.
The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as
amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation
designating the first Thursday in May as a "National Day of Prayer."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA,
President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 5,
2011, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite all citizens of our
Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in
giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of
faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for
our Nation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
BARACK OBAMA
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