Let’s keep praying after the National Day of Prayer, says Whitworth

BRN Exec Barry Whitworth shares about the National Day of Prayer and his desire for BRN churches to continue praying for PA/SJ and beyond.

May 6, 2026
Barry Whitworth

Hello BRN Family! It’s good to be with you!

In our nation, the first Thursday in May is dedicated as a National Day of Prayer. On Thursday, May 7, millions of people gathered to intercede for their neighbors and nation, for those who lead, and those in need. This annual National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for Americans to pray together in faith, standing on promises of God.

For generations, Americans have sought the Lord in prayer and glorified Him in every season and circumstance. The National Day of Prayer observance was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress and signed into law by President Truman.

Each year since then our president has called upon the citizens of our nation to pray, and in 1988 President Reagan established this day of prayer to be the First Thursday of May.

The significance for us as a nation is that it enables us to recall and stand on a foundation of seeking God when faced with critical challenges and decisions. It issues a call for us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a nation.

The 2026 National Day of Prayer Theme is a call to stand on this foundation, to “Glorify God Among the Nations – Seeking Him in All Generations” inspired from the faithful prayer of King David recorded in 1 Chronicles 16:24 NASB, “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.”

We urge you to continue praying after the National Day of Prayer. Specifically, please regularly pray for our region of Pennsylvania/South Jersey.

Here, it is estimated that there are 14 million people who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Additionally, every four minutes, one Pennsylvanian or S. Jerseyan dies without Christ. The region we serve is dark. People we see everyday are lost. Please pray that all we do would glorify God and shine light into the darkness around us.

The BRN team is earnestly praying over our region and for each of our churches. Please let us know how we can pray for you by emailing our Help Desk at [email protected] or calling or texting us at 717-652-5856. As always, thank you for your prayers, and thanks for listening in today. May God bless you.

Barry Whitworth

Barry has been in ministry for over 30 years, serving as a mission pastor, associate pastor, church planter, pastor, interim pastor, transitional pastor and planter, church planting strategist, lead church planting catalyst, church planting director, and now executive director. Before his calling as Executive Director of the Baptist Resource Network in February 2017, he was a church planting missionary and served the Multiplying Churches Team Leader for the BRN.