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Summary
- Scripture tells believers to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1–2) and to pray for the peace of the city where they live, even in exile (Jeremiah 29:7).
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 was spoken to Solomon about Israel; Christians who pray it for their own country apply it by analogy, starting with their own repentance, as Daniel and Nehemiah confessed their nation’s sins.
- Ten short prayers cover leaders, division, justice and the poor, peace and safety, revival, families, work, elections, disasters and thanksgiving, with a list of prayer points.
- Traditional prayers are quoted from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (pp. 18, 36 and 44), Archbishop John Carroll’s prayer for the civil authorities in the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers, and the Orthodox Great Litany.
- U.S. law (36 U.S.C. § 119) makes the first Thursday in May a National Day of Prayer.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (2 Chronicles 7:12–14; Nehemiah 1:6; Psalm 33:12; 67:4; 85:6; 133:1; Proverbs 21:1; Jeremiah 29:7; Daniel 9:5, 18; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8; 1 Timothy 2:1–2; Revelation 7:9). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Morning Prayer, “A Prayer for The President of the United States, and all in Civil Authority,” p. 18; Prayers, “For Our Country,” p. 36, and “For the Family of Nations,” p. 44. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. “A Prayer for the Church, the Civil Authorities, etc.,” pp. 56–58. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. Great Vespers, The Great Litany, p. 5. https://www.ponomar.net/data/hapgood.pdf
- Archdiocese of Baltimore. “Prayer for our Government by Archbishop John Carroll.” January 9, 2021. https://www.archbalt.org/prayer-for-our-government-by-archbishop-john-carroll/
- Yoder, Katie. “This July 4, read a ‘Prayer for Our Government’ by the 1st U.S. Catholic bishop.” Our Sunday Visitor, July 3, 2023. https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/this-july-4-read-a-prayer-for-our-government-by-the-1st-u-s-catholic-bishop/
- 36 U.S. Code § 119, “National Day of Prayer.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/36/119
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