Former State Senator To Represent Oklahoma
At National Day of Prayer Observance In Washington
Former Oklahoma State Senator, Ed Moore is reminding people everywhere of Abraham Lincoln's 1863, National Day of Prayer Proclamation, as he heads to Washington D. C. for Thursday's Capitol Hill observance of The National Day of Prayer. "Like so many other famous people, Abraham Lincoln has been stereotyped by history." Moore said. "I think it would shock people today to actually read Lincoln's 1863 prayer proclamation."
Moore is founder of Prayer Force One, an Oklahoma based ministry that has a nation-wide audience. For almost four years, Moore and his Prayer Force One ministry conducted a daily, virtual, internet-based White House prayer meeting. That is, until Barrack Obama became president. At the stroke of noon on Inauguration Day, the Obama White House abruptly discontinued the virtual White House room tours in which Moore and thousands of other Americans used to quietly pray for the president every day.
"We've written to President Obama to request a continuation of this White House feature. So far we have not received a reply." said Moore. "Former President Bush, while not endorsing the event, wrote a letter to thank the members of Prayer Force One for their prayers on his behalf."
Moore says that he and his ministry have a wonderful surprise for Prayer Force One supporters on the National Day of Prayer. "While we may have been scotched from praying in The White House, we have found another way to carry on with our White House prayer meeting. I think people will be surprised and pleased by our National Day of Prayer revelation." Moore said. "This surprise will be revealed on our ministry web site at www.PrayerForceOne.com on Thursday.
Moore's Prayer Force One ministry is a member of The National Prayer Committee, which fostered The National Day of Prayer Task Force, now headed by Focus on the Family's, Shirley Dobson. Moore will be meeting with both entities during his visit to Washington, in conjunction with The National Day of Prayer.
This being the Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, we also thought that this year's National Day of Prayer Observance would be greatly benefitted, by presenting Abraham Lincoln's 1863 National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer Proclamation. said Moore.
There have been many national days of prayer in U.S. history. said Moore. "However, none of America's many presidential prayer proclamations could be more appropriate for America today than the one issued by our sixteenth president in 1863. I think most Americans today would be shocked to see how far we've drifted from the historic and humble attitude of our Forefathers. We have included Abraham Lincoln's 1863, National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer Proclamation in its entirety below. Its hard to imagine this proclamation getting to first base in today's White House or Congress! he concluded.
President Abraham Lincolns 1863 National Day
Of Humiliation, Fasting & Prayer Proclamation
"WHEREAS, The Senate of the United States; devoutly recognizing the Supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.
And Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe 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 the Lord.
And, insomuch as we know that, by His Divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People. 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 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, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.
Abraham Lincoln, President
William H. Seward, Secretary of State"
Moore and his wife, Sandy, are shown in the photo in front of their ministry flagship, Prayer Force One, which is painted with the exact same paint as Air Force One. So far they have visted 16 state capitols and conducted over 60 press conferences, covered by affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS, TBN and FOX.
For the present, the Moores will be concentrating their travels aboard Prayer Force One throughout the 77 counties of Oklahoma and are now planning a "North To Alaska" tour to meet with Governor Sarah Palin and other state leaders throughout the northwest this summer. Those wanting to know more about Prayer Force One can visit the ministry's web site at: www.PrayerForceOne.com.
Press Note:
A print quality version of the above photo can be downloaded by clicking on the image above. More press resources are available at the Prayer Force One web site. |
