President Russell M. Nelson and other senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared social media messages Thursday on the 70th National Day of Prayer in the United States.
“Sometimes it may feel as though some of our most fervent prayers go unanswered,” the church president tweeted. “I know that feeling! But I also know that our prayers are heard. And our faith is strengthened by prayer.”
In a second tweet, President Nelson added a message declaring that God will guide and help those who pray:
President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Wednesday night officially declaring Thursday the National Day of Prayer. (See full proclamation below.) Congress has designated the first Thursday in May the annual National Day of Prayer, and every president since Bill Clinton has issued a proclamation in support of the day.
Three other senior Latter-day Saint leaders tweeted about prayer to mark the day.
- President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
- Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
Biden has prerecorded a National Day of Prayer message that will air today at 7 p.m. on Pray.com, according to the White House, but there will not be an event this year in the Rose Garden.
In last year’s Rose Garden celebration, a Latter-day Saint woman said a prayer as part of the program. In 2018, the church’s general Relief Society President Jean B. Bingham prayed in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer.
Here is Biden’s full proclamation:
A Proclamation on National Day Of Prayer
Throughout our history, Americans of many religions and belief systems have turned to prayer for strength, hope and guidance. Prayer has nourished countless souls and powered moral movements — including essential fights against racial injustice, child labor and infringement on the rights of disabled Americans. Prayer is also a daily practice for many, whether it is to ask for help or strength, or to give thanks over blessings bestowed.
The First Amendment to our Constitution protects the rights of free speech and religious liberty, including the right of all Americans to pray. These freedoms have helped us to create and sustain a nation of remarkable religious vitality and diversity across the generations.
Today, we remember and celebrate the role that the healing balm of prayer can play in our lives and in the life of our nation. As we continue to confront the crises and challenges of our time — from a deadly pandemic, to the loss of lives and livelihoods in its wake, to a reckoning on racial justice, to the existential threat of climate change — Americans of faith can call upon the power of prayer to provide hope and uplift us for the work ahead. As the late Congressman John Lewis once said, “Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.”
On this National Day of Prayer, we unite with purpose and resolve, and recommit ourselves to the core freedoms that helped define and guide our nation from its earliest days. We celebrate our incredible good fortune that, as Americans, we can exercise our convictions freely — no matter our faith or beliefs. Let us find in our prayers, however they are delivered, the determination to overcome adversity, rise above our differences, and come together as one nation to meet this moment in history.
The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the president to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a “National Day of Prayer.”
Now, therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 6, 2021, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite the citizens of our nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I join all people of faith in prayers for spiritual guidance, mercy, and protection.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord 2021, and of the independence of the United States of America the 245th.
Joseph R. Biden Jr.