GAINESVILLE – A smattering of cold rain droplets penetrated the arboreal canopy overhead, but that would not dampen or chill the zeal of hundreds who gathered during the noon hour Thursday on the Gainesville Square to participate in the National Day of Prayer.
Coincidently or not, it also happened to be Cinco de Mayo, a day when many Mexican-Americans celebrate a battle that was fought, and won, in Mexico in 1852.
Coincidently or not, for most in the crowd on the Square they believe that they are still engaged in a battle. To them the war they fight is massive and unseen, and is waged with neither gun nor strategy; for them the conflict is spiritual and involves the hearts and souls of the nation.
Haskell Harris of Gainesville arrived at the Square early. This would be his first National Day of Prayer, but he says the need for America to seek God is desperate.
“It used to be said ‘God bless America’ but now we’ve gotten away from God,” Harris said. “And we really need to turn our focus back on God.”
“If we can push the sin out and bring repentance and revival, God will flourish this nation once again,” he added.
Brad Farrow drove from Flowery Branch for the celebration and had similar sentiments. “When we seek God spiritually and read His spiritual book, when we approach Him spiritually, that’s when things change.”
“It’s a spiritual battle,” Farrow said.
The theme for this year’s observance is “Wake Up America” and is based on Isaiah 58:1.
The National Day of Prayer became an official event in 1952 when President Harry S Truman signed into law a joint resolution of Congress declaring the first Thursday in May as an annual observance.
Shirley Dobson serves as chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force; Maxine Wagner of Clermont organizes the event on the local level.
“People are hungry,” Wagner said when asked about the direction in which America is trending.
“As Christians we are called to pray for our government leaders. It doesn’t matter who it is that is in power. God is the ultimate authority…we don’t know what is coming…but God will show mercy if we cry out for mercy,” Wagner said with contagious confidence.
The format for the sixty-minute prayer gathering was similar to the one used last year. Seven stations were set up around the Square, each with a designated topic of prayer: the church, the military, families, government, the media, schools and businesses.
Millie Miller sounded the shofar, a trumpet-like device made from a hollow ram’s horn, as the Hebrew priests did in Old Testament times, to signal the start of prayer.
A couple of hundred people in Gainesville, joined by tens-of-thousands across Georgia, mingled their voices with millions across America, all synchronized for a noon-hour rattling of the gates of Heaven.
Click here for the prayer written by Dr. Tony Evans, Honorary Chairman for this year’s event, and read nationwide as a part of today’s effort.
