HR 7

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 04/26/2021 11:05pm

A House resolution
recognizing the first Thursday in May as a day of statewide prayer, fasting, and
repentance in Minnesota.

WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Minnesota have roots in many cultures, with nearly
every nationality represented, and honor a variety of religious traditions; and

WHEREAS, the history of our state is replete with leaders who voluntarily called upon God,
whether the need was great or small; and

WHEREAS, civic and national days of prayer have a long and venerable history in our
constitutional republic, dating back to the First Continental Congress in 1775; and

WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence, our first statement of national purpose and
identity as Americans, made "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God" the foundation of our United
States of America and asserted that people have inalienable rights that are God-given; and

WHEREAS, in 1988, legislation setting aside the first Thursday in May in each year as a
National Day of Prayer was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed by the
President; and

WHEREAS, the National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for Americans of all faiths to join
in united prayer to acknowledge our dependence on God's grace, to give thanks for blessings
received, to request healing from diseases like COVID-19 and for wounds endured, and to ask God
to guide our leaders, bless our troops, uplift all to see God's glory, and bring wholeness to the United
States and its citizens; and

WHEREAS, May 6, 2021, marks the 70th consecutive observance of the National Day of
Prayer in cities and towns throughout the United States and provides us with a powerful opportunity
to humble ourselves; and

WHEREAS, this year we continue to pray for American armed services members and their
families, we pray for the families of loved ones who died from COVID-19, and we offer prayers
for all who suffer because of this pandemic; and

WHEREAS, in his 1863 proclamation of a national day of prayer, President Abraham Lincoln
noted that the Congress had called upon him to appoint such a day "devoutly recognizing the
supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations";
and

WHEREAS, Lincoln noted further in his proclamation that "It is the duty of nations as well
as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and
transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy
and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by
all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is Lord..."; and

WHEREAS, Lincoln noted further in his proclamation that "We have been the recipients of
the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years in peace and prosperity.
We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have
forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied
and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts,
that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated
with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and
preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves
before the offended Power to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness";
NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota that it affirms
the sentiments of President Lincoln and commends them to Minnesotans to be applied to their daily
lives and that it recognizes May 6, 2021, as a Day of Prayer in the state of Minnesota and commends
this observance to all citizens.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and that
of the Speaker, and transmit it to the National Prayer Committee.