It has been, and will continue to be, an extraordinary year. Extraordinary is defined by Webster as beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. I could write about events in wars and politics and such, but doing so would just create angst and division. Instead, I’ll write about two extraordinary events that reveal God’s glory among the nations:
First, the crew of Artemis II returned to the moon, traveling faster and further than anyone before — and you and I were alive to witness this extraordinary event. If you’re my age, you also witnessed the first moon landing on July 20, 1969. How extraordinary that we have been blessed to witness both events. We also got to see, for the first time, pictures of the dark side of the moon. Truly extraordinary.
Second, July 4, 2026, is our Semiquincentennial year of celebration — marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Again, if you’re my age, you also celebrated our Bicentennial in 1976. I marched in a parade that year, dressed in colonial-era garb and sporting a flintlock pistol. My, how time flies.
The Declaration contained this most extraordinary statement:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
On that day, and with that agreed-upon statement of equality, the United States embarked on a grand experiment to see if a people could be united by a spiritual concept — that our human rights are secured by our Creator, not by some earthly king. That grand experiment has lasted for 250 years. Extraordinary indeed!
Will the United States survive for its Quincentennial to be held in the year 2276? Time will tell, but rest assured, it will only survive as long as it humbly bends its corporate knee and looks to the Creator for Sovereign forgiveness, mercy, grace, protection, and direction.
It is for this reason that Presidents have regularly proclaimed National Days of Prayer. President George Washington declared to Congress in 1789, “the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God.”
This year, the National Day of Prayer is being held on May 7th. A special event is being held at Ways Garden at 6:30 p.m. on that day to provide local residents with the opportunity to fulfill the greatest of all American civil duties — to bend our corporate knee and acknowledge the providence of our Almighty and Benevolent Creator.
It is a call to every inhabitant of this blessed land. It is for all people of faith, of all denominations and beliefs, and of all political parties, races, and ethnicities. The National Day of Prayer is our moment to declare, in resilient and unbreakable unity, that our Creator alone is our King, and is the only Sovereign to whom we will bend the knee. It is this declaration that fulfills our national motto: In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum (Out of the many, one).
King David offered a prayer for his nation long ago in 1 Chronicles 16 (NASB). This passage, and verse 24 specifically, was chosen by the National Day of Prayer Committee as its theme for 2026. Here is an excerpt from David’s national prayer (verse 24 highlighted in bold):
Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; worship the Lord in holy array.
Tremble before Him, all the earth; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
Here is a proclamation of a National Day of Prayer by a US president. Can you guess who wrote it? (Answer below.)
On this day, let us acknowledge anew our reliance upon the divine Providence that guided our founding fathers. Let each of us, according to his own custom and his own faith, give thanks to his Creator for the divine assistance which has nurtured the noble ideals in which this Nation was conceived.
Most especially, let us humbly acknowledge that we have not yet succeeded in obtaining for all of our people the blessings of liberty to which all are entitled. On this day, in this year, as we concede these shortcomings, let each of us pray that through our failures we may derive the wisdom, the courage, and the strength to secure for every one of our citizens the full measure of dignity, freedom, and brotherhood for which all men are qualified by their common fatherhood under God.
In this extraordinary year, please join us in prayer at Way’s Garden, at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, May 7th, as we humbly acknowledge the gracious Creator who has blessed us above and beyond what we could ever ask or even imagine. Bring a lawn chair, dress for the weather, and arrive a little early for fellowship.
Answer: President John F. Kennedy, October 16, 1963
