1.1 	A House resolution
1.2 	recognizing the first Thursday in May as a day of statewide prayer, fasting, and 
1.3 	repentance in Minnesota.
1.4 	WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Minnesota have roots in many cultures, with nearly 
1.5 	every nationality represented, and honor a variety of religious traditions; and
1.6 	WHEREAS, the history of our state is replete with leaders who voluntarily called upon God, 
1.7 	whether the need was great or small; and
1.8 	WHEREAS, civic and national days of prayer have a long and venerable history in our 
1.9 	constitutional republic, dating back to the First Continental Congress in 1775; and
1.10 	WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence, our first statement of national purpose and 
1.11 	identity as Americans, made "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God" the foundation of our United 
1.12 	States of America and asserted that people have inalienable rights that are God-given; and
1.13 	WHEREAS, in 1988, legislation setting aside the first Thursday in May in each year as a 
1.14 	National Day of Prayer was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed by the 
1.15 	President; and
1.16 	WHEREAS, the National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for Americans of all faiths to join 
1.17 	in united prayer to acknowledge our dependence on God's grace, to give thanks for blessings 
1.18 	received, to request healing from diseases like COVID-19 and for wounds endured, and to ask God 
1.19 	to guide our leaders, bless our troops, uplift all to see God's glory, and bring wholeness to the United 
1.20 	States and its citizens; and
1.21 	WHEREAS, May 7, 2020, marks the 69th consecutive observance of the National Day of 
1.22 	Prayer in cities and towns throughout the United States and provides us with a powerful opportunity 
1.23 	to humble ourselves; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, this year we continue to pray for American armed services members and their 
2.2 	families, we pray for the families of loved ones who died from COVID-19, and we offer prayers 
2.3 	for all who suffer because of this pandemic; and
2.4 	WHEREAS, in his 1863 proclamation of a national day of prayer, President Abraham Lincoln 
2.5 	noted that the Congress had called upon him to appoint such a day "devoutly recognizing the 
2.6 	supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations"; 
2.7 	and
2.8 	WHEREAS, Lincoln noted further in his proclamation that "It is the duty of nations as well 
2.9 	as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and 
2.10 	transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy 
2.11 	and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by 
2.12 	all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is Lord..."; and
2.13 	WHEREAS, Lincoln noted further in his proclamation that "We have been the recipients of 
2.14 	the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years in peace and prosperity. 
2.15 	We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have 
2.16 	forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied 
2.17 	and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, 
2.18 	that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated 
2.19 	with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and 
2.20 	preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves 
2.21 	before the offended Power to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness"; 
2.22 	NOW, THEREFORE,
2.23 	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota that it affirms 
2.24 	the sentiments of President Lincoln and commends them to Minnesotans to be applied to their daily 
2.25 	lives and that it recognizes May 7, 2020, as a Day of Prayer in the state of Minnesota and commends 
2.26 	this observance to all citizens.
2.27 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is 
2.28 	directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and that 
2.29 	of the Speaker, and transmit it to the National Prayer Committee.