Warner Robins celebrates annual National Day of Prayer at city hall

WARNER ROBINS – The community gathered at Warner Robins City Hall to celebrate National Prayer Day on Thursday, May 1. 

This year is the 34th anniversary of the event in the city. Local pastors and lay persons are invited to lead prayers for:

• Repentance, Personal Renewal, Spiritual and Moral Awakening
• The Family
• Churches and Ministry Organizations, Imprisoned and Persecuted Church
• Youth and Gangs
• Education
• Military Personnel and Families
• Local, State, and Federal Government
• Arts and Entertainment
• Cultural, Social Issues and Race Relations
• Mass Media
• Business and Economy
• The Peace of Jerusalem

This year’s theme was “Pour out to the God of Hope and be filled” from Romans 15:13.  National Day of Prayer Volunteer Coordinator Emily Dennis explained it means people pour out their fervent prayers and the God of hope is going to fill them with peace, joy and send the Holy Ghost into their lives to help them through the good and the bad. 

The national event is celebrated everywhere on the first Thursday of May. Dennis started the event, reminding everyone that some people don’t have the freedom to pray and to be grateful every day. She said it is a day they look forward to every year, and it is still significant to pray for America.

National Day of Prayer started back in 1952 when Billy Graham stood on the steps of the nation’s capital. He challenged President Harry S. Truman and congress to set aside a National Day of Prayer annually.

In April of 1952, congress unanimously passed a law and Truman signed it, which marked the beginning of the national holiday. Moving forward to 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an amendment declaring the event be held on the first Thursday of May.

Dennis said she feels good there are millions of people praying in different locations for the nation. She also shared she enjoyed the interaction she witnessed during the event. 

“The fact that we can do this annually has been good and there are people that have been coming,” she said. 

Dennis’s role is to invite different people to attend every year to pray on different topics. This year, she believes they went beyond by praying for the racial crisis and the youth. She also believes prayer activates and brings hope.

She hopes the people who attended the event went away feeling more hopeful by seeing both community leaders and ordinary people come and pray together.

“I think the prayers were heartfelt and I think it’s good to come together and just look at this afterwards,” she said

She also hopes this event is a way for people to meet each other in the community. Over the years, the event has garnered a lot of support. Dennis said every year up to 100 people attend the event and the lowest attendance has been 50. She believes the event always has had a good turnout. 

Dennis shared in her 83 years of living, she has not seen the amount of hatred she sees in the political climate today. She said it has been heartbreaking and scary seeing the nation divided. However, she believes people need to remember to keep praying, especially during these times.

“We need to just continue praying for all leadership, people in leadership for physical protection. I really think we need to do that,” she said.

Dennis believes National Day of Prayer is still an important event to remember. She said the founding fathers knew they needed Godly wisdom in order to make tough decisions and it is just as important today to still pray for Godly wisdom for current leaders. 

“By having a public unified prayer to pray for our nation, we are teaching other people that this is something you can do,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be in an event like this; it can be just over the phone, it can be [with] your family. We’re teaching the importance of doing that and, certainly, we still have [a] need [for] Godly wisdom, just as our founding fathers do.”

Dennis continues to encourage people to pray and spread the word, which helps the event continue to grow and prosper.