On May 1, 2025, tens of thousands of volunteers in over 300,000 prayer gatherings across the United States will come together for one purpose: prayer.
This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the National Day of Prayer (NDP), which Americans from varied backgrounds and faiths observe annually. The National Day of Prayer Task Force, a nonprofit that promotes the annual prayer movement, has a mission “to mobilize unified public and personal prayer for America” centered on Jesus Christ. This year, the NDP Task Force promoted a theme inspired by Romans 15:13: “Pour out to the God of hope and be filled.”
Reverend Geoff Eckart, a lifelong Wesleyan, serves as the board of directors’ chair, overseeing both the NDP Task Force and the National Prayer Committee. He is also the lead pastor of Daybreak Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the founder and CEO of the youth ministry, Never The Same, which helms ministries like Claim Your Campus, a student prayer movement that Pastor Geoff also started.
Of the National Day of Prayer, Pastor Geoff says, “Every year, we find that God just gives us the right theme for the right time.” Today, as the country faces what he calls an epidemic of despair, he says what we need is hope — and the current theme’s focus is exactly that.
“It’s about finding hope in the power and presence of God for our country,” Pastor Geoff says. He adds that the theme is powerful because of its emphasis on “believing that when we pray, God’s going to bring hope to previously hopeless situations.”
The National Day of Prayer tradition in the United States began in 1952. That spring, Congress passed a bill that read, “The President shall set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.”
A few decades later, Vonette Bright, one of the founders of Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade), had a vision to see the National Day of Prayer be on a consistent day. She pushed for legislation to make it happen, and in 1988, an amendment to the original law passed both houses of Congress with unanimous approval. The bill designated the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.
“Let me tell you,” says Pastor Geoff, “it’s really exciting what’s happened since.”
Vonette started the NDP Task Force as a 501(c)(3) and began recruiting regional coordinators and donors. The task force’s promotion for the prayer movement had explosive results. “Now, there are 75,000 volunteers for the National Day of Prayer, and over 300,000 prayer gatherings on the first Thursday of May,” Pastor Geoff says.
Pastor Geoff adds that the NDP Task Force has big plans. “We’re launching something next year for the 250th anniversary of our country called the Great Prayer Commission. And we want churches, local churches, to commit and be a part of doing three things to see a wave of prayer sweep across churches in our country.”
As part of the Great Prayer Commission, the task force is encouraging churches to do three things: have a prayer strategy, have prayer partners for every pastor on their staff and engage in the National Day of Prayer.
Pastor Geoff says, “It’s absolutely critical that prayer is integrated into a church’s rhythms and structures … it’s important right now that churches grasp and practice the idea of what I would call proactive prayer.” He describes this as praying into things before they happen. “So students praying, ‘Let’s pray that the culture of fighting at this school would change.’ Churches praying, ‘Let’s pray that people would give their lives to Christ in our community.’ Let’s pray for and towards something rather than praying exclusively just about something that’s already happened.”
In the words of General Superintendent Dr. Wayne Schmidt, “Throughout all Geoff’s ministry expressions, prayer is the top priority.”
Pastor Geoff believes deeply in the transformative power of prayer. As a leader in multiple nationwide prayer movements, he is extremely hopeful about the future of prayer with the next generation. Young people “can bring prayer into the church in new ways,” said Pastor Geoff.
And they’re already having an impact. That’s part of the vision behind Claim Your Campus, which aims to see one million students praying weekly at every middle and high school in America.
“There’s a school in every community,” Pastor Geoff says. “So, if every community could be impacted by the next generation praying, the cumulative effect of that is it could — it could change the landscape, the culture, spiritually of our country.”
Whether among students at school or on the broad scale of the National Day of Prayer, Pastor Geoff states that “the key to a hopeful future of the local church in our country and around the world is the practice of prayer.
“There’s a wave that’s beginning to build, where I think the prayer movement will be the mark of the 20s in our churches in America. I think churches are really beginning to grasp the importance and the practice of prayer in their congregations, and I’m excited about that.”
Click here to learn more about how you can get involved with the National Day of Prayer on May 1.
Jerah Winn is a writer for The Wesleyan Church. She is passionate about sharing stories with others for the glory of God, and she currently resides in Central Indiana.
