Last week, I wrote to thank the president for his decision to appeal this ruling and his plans to recognize this 59th annual observance of a national day of prayer

Last Sunday the president of the United States came to visit my 91-year-old father, Billy Graham, and me at my father’s home in North Carolina. If either of us wanted to visit the president at his home or even just to speak with him on the phone, we would have to navigate one or more telephone operators, receptionists or executive assistants–and still might not be successful in reaching him.

This morning, and numerous times throughout the day, I spoke directly to the God of this universe–no switchboard, secretaries, call screeners or voice mail. What an amazing thing! Even more amazing, God was waiting on my call and anxious to hear from me and talk to me, no matter how many times I called. Prayer–talking to God–is a vibrant and vital personal practice; but it is also a very real part of our national history.

In 1775 George Washington and the Continental Congress requested the colonies to pray for wisdom in a war for independence. Nearly 100 years later, President Abraham Lincoln offered a proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting and prayer.” Almost a century later, in 1952, President Harry Truman signed a joint resolution of Congress declaring an annual, national day of prayer. President Ronald Reagan, in 1988 amended the law, permanently establishing the first Thursday of May as the National Day of Prayer, a tradition every president, Republican and Democrat alike, has honored by signing a proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.