Prayer Day set May 7

The Mountain Home Christian Ladies In Prayer are inviting the public to join them at noon for the annual National Day of Prayer, May 7.

The nondenominational service will be held on the steps of the Elmore County Courthouse with prayers led by pastors from a number of local churches. The local event is being sponsored by the Christian Ladies in Prayer, said Rose Plympton, one of the organizers. She noted the National Day of Prayer "enables us to follow our founding fathers' example by seeking the wisdom of God for the critical issues facing our nation and its leaders."

In 1952, President Harry Truman signed a joint resolution of Congress establishing an annual national day of prayer. Though national days of prayer had long been a part of our history, the president recognized the need to make unified petitions an official part of America's calendar.

For many years, the annual Day of Prayer was proclaimed by the president to take place on the day of his choosing. But without a set annual date, there was often little or no time for citizens to organize prayer gatherings. That changed in 1988 however, when President Ronald Reagan amended the law by permanently designating the National Day of Prayer to take place on the first Thursday of every May.