Thursday, May 1, is the National Day of Prayer, an observance designated by the United States Congress in 1952 in legislation signed by President Harry S. Truman, amended in 1988 in legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan to specify the first Thursday in May as the permanent Day of Prayer.

At a time when forces of secularism and even paganism challenge the Christian underpinnings of America’s culture, disciples of Christ should thank God that this reminder of our nation’s dependence on God remains.

Despite these signs that some American leaders seek to submit to God and rule justly and even humbly, anti-Christian forces continue strong in our country.

So, in my role as President of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, I encourage you to join with millions of Christians around this country, and to invite your friends to join as well by forwarding this email to them, to pray for repentance, revival, renewal, and reformation in America and its every state, county, city, and neighborhood.

The Apostle Paul explicitly calls Christians to such prayer in 1 Timothy 2:1–8, writing:

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. (NASB)

A devotional and other resources for the National Day of Prayer are available at the National Day of Prayer’s website.

President Donald Trump’s Holy Week proclamation, which explicitly affirmed the atoning death and the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ, is another reason to thank God, and even offers some topics for our own prayers:

During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross.  In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross out of a deep and abiding love for all His creation.  Through His suffering, we have redemption.  Through His death, we are forgiven of our sins.  Through His Resurrection, we have hope of eternal life.  On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does not have the final word.

This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government.  We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.

As we focus on Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience—even in life’s most difficult and uncertain moments.  This week, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved Nation.  We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.

So, please join me this Thursday praying for our nation, that millions more Americans will hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Americans will enjoy liberty in a just order, that governing officials will recognize and embrace their roles as servants to the public, and that the sad hatreds that divide so many of us will give way to a true love defined by obedience to the two Great Commandments—to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves—and the Ten Commandments, for, as the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 13:10, “love is the fulfillment of the law.”