The community will join the rest of the nation Thursday in pausing at noon for a time of prayer.

The National Day of Prayer will be observed Thursday, May 3 in America. Smithville will observe this day at noon on the east side of the Dekalb County Courthouse (out on the lawn). The rain location is in the basement of the DeKalb County Courthouse.

“All are invited to join for a time of prayer for our nation, state and city led by local ministers from Smithville and the surrounding areas,” said event coordinator Issac Gray. “It’s time for God’s people to come together and seek His face; we have a chance to do that on the National Day of Prayer.”

A national day of prayer was first called for by the first Continental Congress in 1775 and was first established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. In 1952, Congress unanimously voted to establish a National Day of Prayer. The day was made official when President Harry S. Truman signed it into law. The annual observance is held on the first Thursday of May and is designated by the United States Congress as a time when people are asked “to turn to God in prayer and meditation." Each year since its inception, the president has signed a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.

   The constitutionality of the National Day of Prayer was unsuccessfully challenged in court by the Freedom From Religion Foundation after their first attempt was unanimously dismissed by a federal appellate court in April 2011.