The National Day of Prayer Task Force team, along with Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance, local pastors and congregations, will come together for a day of worship in downtown Taylor.
The 73rd annual National Day of Prayer will be held Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m. in Heritage Square, 400 N. Main St. in Taylor.
The theme of this year’s event is “Lift up the word and light up the world.”
“We’re not just uniting with the people of Taylor,” said Mary Flores, team lead for National Day of Prayer in Taylor. “We’re uniting with the whole country. Every city, every state, everyone is recommended to come together and pray. It is something that is a day of focus on the strength, spirituality and unity of our country.”
The event features community leaders praying in the seven centers of influence in America which include business, church, military, family, government, media and education. Speakers and performers will be on stage at the amphitheater, while residents can sit throughout the park.
“Every pastor will stand and pray for their specific subject and pray for their specific subject,” Flores said.
Flores said she will pray for family, Pastor Dennis Luton will pray for church, Pastor Jeff Ripple will pray for business, Pastor Shane Allen will pray for education, Pastor Adam Gusman will pray for military, Pastor Johnny Spence will pray for government and Pastor Edward Barrera will pray for media.
In 1775, the Continental Congress allocated a time for prayer in forming a new nation. Over the years, there have been calls for a day of prayer, including from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law in the United States. President Reagan amended the law in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May each year as the National Day of Prayer.
The National Prayer Committee was formed in the United States in 1972. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer Task Force, with the intended purpose of coordinating events for the National Day of Prayer. According to the Legal Information Institute, the President shall 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.
Flores said individuals of every denomination are welcome at the prayer event.
