National Day of Prayer Is Celebrated

Standing at the altar of a candle-lit Orange Covenant Church on Thursday night, Key Weymouth offered a prayer for Bill Clinton.

“Our president, like all of us, needs you, Lord,” she said. “He needs you desperately.”

Weymouth’s petition was in keeping with the theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer--America: Return to God. She and 250 other worshipers at Covenant were among the faithful across Orange County and throughout the nation who gathered in groups large and small to pray for personal salvation and for the country’s leaders.

“It’s a day when all people who pray can ask God for wisdom, guidance, comfort, direction for our society,” said the Rev. Tino Ballesteros, who led several hundred in prayer at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

National Day of Prayer was established in 1952, when President Truman signed a congressional resolution designating a date in October for the observance annually.

President Reagan gave the practice renewed emphasis and changed the date: In 1988, he signed a resolution setting aside the second Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.

Though the observance was intended to include the faithful of all religions, it has found popularity mostly among Christians. Most Jewish congregations, for instance, are not unfamiliar with the observance, said Allison Meyerson, spokeswoman for the Jewish Federation of Orange County. She said she did not know of any temples celebrating the Day of Prayer.

In the past, the day has met with some resistance from those who see the observance as a mixture of the religious and political.

But those who observe the day, whether at church services or in quiet reflection, say they welcome the emphasis on remembering the nation’s leaders in prayer.

“The National Day of Prayer is to lift up the authorities, to touch their lives and encourage them in what they’re doing,” said Pastor Ken Wilson, who led the service at Orange Covenant, which drew worshipers from several churches. “It’s to say, hey, these people are doing very tough jobs, and our thoughts are with them.”