[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9741 of May 3, 2018

National Day of Prayer, 2018

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On this National Day of Prayer, we join together to offer gratitude for
our many blessings and to acknowledge our need for divine wisdom,
guidance, and protection. Prayer, by which we affirm our dependence on
God, has long been fundamental to our pursuit of freedom, peace, unity,
and prosperity. Prayer sustains us and brings us comfort, hope, peace,
and strength. Therefore, we must cherish our spiritual foundation and
uphold our legacy of faith.
Prayer has been a source of guidance, strength, and wisdom since the
founding of our Republic. When the Continental Congress gathered in
Philadelphia to contemplate freedom from Great Britain, the delegates
prayed daily for guidance. Their efforts produced the Declaration of
Independence and its enumeration of the self-evident truths that we all
cherish today. We believe that all men and women are created equal and
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, including
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Prayer sustained us and
gave us the strength to endure the sacrifices and suffering of the
American Revolution and to temper the triumph of victory with humility
and gratitude. Notably, as one of its first acts, our newly formed
Congress appointed chaplains of the House of Representatives and Senate
so that all proceedings would begin with prayer.
As a Nation, we have continued to seek God in prayer, including in times
of conflict and darkness. At the height of World War II, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt called for prayer ``for the vision to see our way
clearly--to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and
for all our fellow men--and to the achievement of His will to peace on
earth.''; Decades later, following one of the darkest days in our
Nation's history, President George W. Bush offered this prayer for our
heartbroken country, mourning the precious souls who perished in the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001: ``We ask Almighty God to watch
over our Nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to
come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in
sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of
a life to come.'';
America has known peace, prosperity, war, and depression--and prayer has
sustained us through it all. May our Nation and our people never forget
the love, grace, and goodness of our Maker, and may our praise and
gratitude never cease. On this National Day of Prayer, let us come
together, all according to their faiths, to thank God for His many
blessings and ask for His continued guidance and strength.
In 1988, the Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, called on the
President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first
Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer, ``on which the people of
the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches,
in groups, and as individuals.'';
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim May 3 as a National Day of

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Prayer. I encourage all Americans to observe this day, reflecting on the
blessings our Nation has received and the importance of prayer, with
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities in their houses of
worship, communities, and places of work, schools, and homes.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of May,
in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
DONALD J. TRUMP