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Skriven 2005-05-05 23:33:32 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (050505) for Thu, 2005 May 5
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President Commemorates National Day of Prayer at the White House
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 5, 2005

President Commemorates National Day of Prayer at the White House
The East Room

President's Remarks
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9:26 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, and welcome to the White House. Laura and I
are honored to join you on this important occasion.

I want to thank Shirley Dobson, the chairman of the National Day of Prayer.
Thank you for organizing this event and thank you for your wonderful
comments. I'm glad to see you brought your husband, Jim, with you.
(Laughter.) It's good to have Vonette Bright with us, welcome. I appreciate
my fellow Texan, Max Lucado, for his wonderful prayer. Thank you very much;
welcome. I'm glad you and Denalyn are with us. Rabbi, thank you for your
reading of the psalm. It's good to have your family here; welcome. I
appreciate Father Charles Pope, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church,
here in D.C. Kind of sounded more like a Baptist preacher to me. (Laughter
and applause.)

Laura and I are proud Methodists and we're pleased to be here with Bishop
Peter Weaver, who is the president of the Council of Methodist Bishops, who
will deliver the closing prayer. Thank you.

It's such an honor to be here with the St. Olaf Choir led by Anton
Armstrong. You've got such beautiful music, thank you for sharing with us.
(Applause.) I'm sure they're having a prayerful moment right now --
(laughter) -- praying that I hurry up and finish because they have been
standing for quite a while. (Laughter.)

The National Day of Prayer is an annual event established in 1952 by an Act
of the United States Congress. Yet, this day is part of a broader tradition
that reaches back to the beginnings of America. From the landing of the
pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, to the launch of the American Revolution, the
men and women who founded this nation in freedom relied on prayer to
protect and preserve it.

Today, prayer continues to play an important part in the personal lives of
many Americans. Every day, millions of us turn to the Almighty in reverence
and humility. Every day, our churches and synagogues and mosques and
temples are filled with men and women who pray to our Maker. And almost
every day, I am given a special reminder of this great generosity of spirit
when someone comes up and says, Mr. President, I'm praying for you.

Prayer has been an important part of American public life, as well. Many of
our forefathers came to these shores seeking the freedom to worship. The
first Continental Congress began by asking the Almighty for the wisdom that
would enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. And
when our Founders provided that sure foundation in the Declaration of
Independence, they declared it a self-evident truth that our right to
liberty comes from God.

And so we pray as a nation for three main reasons. We pray to give thanks
for our freedom. Freedom is our birthright because the Creator wrote it
into our common human nature. No government can ever take a gift from God
away. And in our great country, among the freedoms we celebrate is the
freedom to pray as you wish, or not at all. And when we offer thanks to our
Creator for the gift of freedom, we acknowledge that it was meant for all
men and women, and for all times.

Second, we pray for help in defending the gift of freedom from those who
seek to destroy it. Washington prayed at Valley Forge. Franklin Roosevelt
sent American troops off to liberate a continent with his D-Day prayer.
Today, we pray for the troops who are defending our freedom against
determined enemies around the globe. We seek God's blessing for the
families they have left behind, and we commit to Heaven's care those brave
men and women he has called home.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

THE PRESIDENT: Finally, we pray to acknowledge our dependence on the
Almighty. Prayerful people understand the limits of human strength. We
recognize that our plans are not always God's plans. Yet, we know that a
God who created us for freedom is not indifferent to injustice or cruelty
or evil. So we ask that our hearts may be aligned with His, and that we may
be given the strength to do what is right and help those in need. We who
ask for God's help for ourselves, have a particular obligation to care for
the least of our brothers and sisters within our midst.

During the funeral for Abraham Lincoln, Bishop Matthew Simpson relayed a
story about a minister who told our 16th President that he hoped the Lord
was on his side. Lincoln wisely replied that he was more concerned that he
was on the side of the Lord, because the Lord was always on the side of
right.

Freedom is a divine gift that carries with it a tremendous human
responsibility. The National Day of Prayer is a day that we ask that our
nation, our leaders and our people use the freedom we have been given
wisely. And so we pray as Americans have always prayed: with confidence in
God's purpose, with hope for the future, and with the humility to ask God's
help to do what is right.

Thank you for coming. May God bless. (Applause.)

END 9:32 A.M. EDT

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