Senator Brown asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that a statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Brown’s statement is as follows:
Senate Resolution No. 46 would commemorate Thursday, May 7, 2009, as Michigan’s Day of Prayer to be observed concurrently with the 58th observance of the National Day of Prayer which also is on May 7.
America’s founders forged our country’s longstanding reliance on prayer when they asked all colonists in 1775 to pray for God’s help in undertaking the enormous task of forging a new nation. The annual celebration of a National Day of Prayer came into existence in 1952 when President Truman signed into law a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress.
We may all recall America’s first impulse following the September 11 attacks, and it was to pray. Now facing the most unprecedented economic challenge since the Great Depression, let us not soon forget what was so instinctive following the 9/11 attacks.
Our 16th President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that April 30, 1863, would be a National Day of Prayer, and he urged all people to join in this day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer.” In this bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth, so let us follow Lincoln’s counsel and ask our fellow citizens to join together on May 7 in a day of prayer for guidance, strength, and wisdom in these challenging and difficult times.