National Day of Prayer, 2023

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 10570 of May 3, 2023

National Day of Prayer, 2023

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In periods of peace and prosperity and in times of
struggle and strife, countless Americans turn to prayer
to seek guidance, bolster our faith, and brace our
spirits when we need it most. Prayer is both a personal
and communal act--composed of our most intimate
thoughts and a practice observed by multitudes across
our diverse Nation in every language, culture,
religion, and belief system. On this National Day of
Prayer, we recognize the profound power of prayer,
grounded in deep humility and hope.

The right to pray is enshrined in our Constitution and
stamped firmly in the American tradition. The belief
that prayer can move mountains is, at its core, a
belief in making the impossible possible. There is
nothing more American than believing in the endless
possibilities of what we can do when we do it together.

Throughout our history, prayer has empowered moral
movements and fueled efforts to strengthen our
democracy. It was deeply rooted in the fight to abolish
slavery and the expansion of voting rights and voter
access. And it continues to compel us to uphold our
founding creed that all of us are created equal, are
made in the image of God, and deserve to be treated
with dignity and equality throughout our lives.

We will never fully know how prayer has quietly
influenced every aspect of American life--bringing
comfort to service members on the battlefield,
grounding the spirits of astronauts in space, guiding
the healing hands of medical professionals tending to
our loved ones, and fortifying the faiths of millions
of worshippers in every corner of our Nation. There is
hardly an aspect of American life that is not touched
by the silent supplications of prayer to fulfill our
hopes and our aspirations.

Earlier this year, I was honored to speak at a Sunday
service at the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, now pastored by
Senator Raphael Warnock. In that sacred place, praying
and contemplating Dr. King's moral vision of a
``Beloved Community,'' we were reminded that so much
more unites us than divides us. We are all bound
together by our love of country and our belief in
democracy. Today, I pray that we can see each other as
we should: not as enemies but as neighbors, and not as
adversaries but as fellow Americans and human beings.
Only when we see ourselves in each other will justice,
as scripture tells us, ``roll down like waters,''
righteousness become ``a mighty stream,'' and America
fulfill its true promise as a land of liberty and
justice for all.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has
called on the President to issue each year a
proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a
``National Day of Prayer.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 4, 2023,
as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon the citizens
of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their
own faith and conscience, for our many

freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of
faith to join me in asking for God's continued
guidance, mercy, and protection.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
third day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand
twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.