Religious Diversity News - The Pluralism Project

The National Day of Prayer is Thursday, and once again Abilene residents will have two noontime choices -- as well as one all-day venue -- to offer up prayers of thanks and consolation.

Since 1775, when the first call to prayer was enacted by the Continental Congress asking the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, calls to prayer have been issued at critical times throughout our history, said Dr. Ron Smith, a retired Hardin-Simmons University theology professor, who will head the Abilene Interfaith Council's multifaith prayer service in Minter Park downtown.

Examples include President Lincoln's 1863 proclamation of a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's radio prayers during World War II asking God's protection of Americans in battle, he said.