 Thank you very much and welcome here. I think the presence of all of you in representing so many different faiths is testimony that we still are one people in one nation under God. I I think it also indicates something that I've been talking about for a long time that there was a great hunger in this country of ours for a spiritual revival. This traditional proclaiming of a national day of prayer goes clear back to the Continental Congress maybe even beyond the other day I told a group of people I thought one of the most sublime pictures or portraits that we have in our history was of Washington kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge in prayer. I must confess I have an empathy there been some days doing the same thing recently on an incident or something an issue that between myself and the Congress one that were very deep feelings on both sides and I don't mean just the quarrel some kind of political feelings they're really a deep belief in a position and I was talking to a senator and I'm trying to persuade him by telling him that I thought we both had the same common cause and wanted the same goal and as he rose to leave there was no commitment but as he rose to leave he said well I'm going out and I'm I'm really going to do some pray and I couldn't resist I said if you get a busy signal it's me also pray but I hope that you help make this this tradition of a day of prayer permanent I know there have been some lapses since the early days when it started I've also always believed that prayer shouldn't be a sometimes thing in our lives that or just invoked in a time of crisis or need maybe sometimes when the Sun says particularly beautiful every come to a curve in the road and the view is is very grand maybe we just ought to now and then say a little silent prayer of thanks for the glory in which we are allowed to live I know maybe we don't all agree on this but I also thought that maybe someday we might be able to acknowledge God in a classroom once again I've never been convinced that a silent moment of prayer would anything to strengthen our faith and remind us that no nation that has ever forsaken its God has ever written very many pages of history the I find a favorite of mine from the Bible a reminder in this job second chronicles if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land so now with faith in your leadership I'm going to sign this proclamation setting Thursday May 6th 1982 as the national day of prayer since I use two names I'll use two pens it's official we pledge our prayer we pledge our prayers to you and for others prayers I believe in intercessionary we appreciate the job you're doing thank you very much