This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16 NIV
The 2026 National Day of Prayer was focused on three things, first and foremost in all things to “Glorify God Among the Nations, Seeking Him in All Generations.” We gave God glory as we reflected on the past, not just 250 years of America but also from “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” The Everlasting God Whose steadfast love endures forever was glorified in all He has done, is doing, and all His plans and promises that are to come.
May we continue to seek Him first, always, and with honor in every second, season and situation throughout our lives, personally and corporately in all generations!
Secondly, we gave every person who gathered with us in person and on our broadcast an opportunity to personally dedicate or rededicate our lives to Jesus. A personal relationship with God is a personal decision and dedication that must be professed and then expressed. We will share more about that throughout the summer, but we took the time to pray and to ask God to glorify Himself through our lives fully submitted and committed to Him.
Thirdly, we spoke and showed gratitude to our military. We were richly blessed to have incredible military support throughout the three prayer gatherings we hosted in Washington D.C. at the National Observance, and at each gathering we prayed for our military members as they listened and prayed with us. In the afternoon the National Day of Prayer Task Force had the opportunity to lay a wreath on behalf of the entire National Day of Prayer Task Force, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Tears streamed down our faces as we toured the Memorial Museum and stepped out to be escorted to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor those who not only laid down their lives but also lost their identity. They represent and remind us to “Never Forget” every person who has laid down their lives in the founding and protection of our nation and freedom around the world.
We ended our afternoon at the tomb of George and Martha Washington to remember that we are living not only in the freedom that he and so many others fought for but even more, we are living in God’s answers to the prayers that General/ President Washington and other Founding Fathers prayed. It is not their faith that we celebrate but the God that they held faith in, and prayed to, as they risked their lives daily from declaration, to revolution, to the foundation of how our new country would be governed, undergirded by the Great Awakening.
At the close of our service, we honored every soldier who laid down their lives by every person who came to pray presenting a “white rose of remembrance” at the tomb.
We want to encourage you to show your gratitude in some way over this Memorial Day weekend at a veteran’s cemetery or remembrance gathering.
This God-glorifying day was not a “landing” but a launch - to continue to encourage all Christians love and live as Christ for Christ, in the power and to the glory of Christ, the Son of God, sent by God, to lay down His life that we might be saved in believing in Him as our Lord and Savior.
Will you please join me in a prayer of remembrance right now?
Lord Jesus, we thank You for laying down Your life for us. Thank You for Your blood shed on the cross, Your sinless body broken for all who would call on Your name and saved a wretch like me. You call us to love others, to study and live Your Word, to seek You first and follow You daily. Lord, Your example to lay down Your life turns our hearts and gratitude to all of our military members who serve and especially those who laid down their lives dying in service to God and Country. Thank You for the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed. We ask that You would continue to comfort the families of those who have died. Please wrap them in Your compassion and comfort, Your strength that sustains them daily as we commit to “Never Forget.” Thank You God! We submit our lives to Your glory and remember it is only to Your glory that our lives bear much fruit by the grace and power of Your Spirit and in the name of our blessed Savior we pray, Amen!
Serving Him with gladness,
Kathy Branzell
President
