MOULTRIE, Ga. — As Americans prepare to observe the 65th annual National Day of Prayer, Christians in Colquitt County are looking forward to an observance on the Courthouse Square.

The Colquitt County Baptist Association in cooperation with the Colquitt County Pastors’ Prayer Group will host a gathering for prayer from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Lewis Hill Amphitheater on the Square.

The theme for this year’s National Day of Prayer is “Wake Up America” and the theme verse is Isaiah 58:1a: “Shout it aloud, do not hold back, raise your voice like a trumpet.” (NIV)  

“President George Washington once said, ‘It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,’” local organizers said in a press release. “Certainly this is the duty of His people as well. Our nation is hurting. Lives are broken and in need of healing. Together we want to call on the God of Heaven to heal our land, our families and our communities. Our greatest hope lies in God’s people calling out in unison to Him in humble prayer.”

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation, according to the website of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, www.nationaldayofprayer.org.

The event was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

“Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer,” the website says. “It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America’s leaders and its families. The Task Force represents a Judeo-Christian expression of the national observance, based on our understanding that this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.”