--- description: President Obama called for "freedom to all people" in a letter accompanying his declaration of May 5 as the annual National Day of Prayer title: National Day of Prayer: Read President Obama's Declaration image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02a5771dd84f4eea/69889205bc6cfcf6b03dcdd2/barack-obama-national-prayer-day-proclamation.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Obama's Declaration of a National Day of Prayer  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent May 5, 2016 3:00 PM CUT  President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies 22nd annual Awards Gala at the Washington Hilton May 4, 2016 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies 22nd annual Awards Gala at the Washington Hilton May 4, 2016 in Washington, DC.Kevin Dietsch/Pool—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent May 5, 2016 3:00 PM CUT President Obama called for “freedom to all people” in a [letter](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/04/presidential-proclamation-national-day-prayer-2016 "undefined") accompanying his declaration of May 5 as the annual National Day of Prayer. “Our country was founded on the idea of religious freedom,” Obama wrote in his letter. “On National Day of Prayer, we rededicate ourselves to extending this freedom to all people.” The U.S. has held a National Day of Prayer since Harry Truman signed a law in 1952 designating the first Thursday in May for that purpose. Read Obama’s full statement below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4319501/obama-national-day-of-prayer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4319501/obama-national-day-of-prayer/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Declaration of a National Day of Prayer","datePublished":"2016-05-05T15:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:18:46.800Z","description":"'We rededicate ourselves to extending this freedom to all people'","url":"https://time.com/4319501/obama-national-day-of-prayer/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02a5771dd84f4eea/69889205bc6cfcf6b03dcdd2/barack-obama-national-prayer-day-proclamation.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02a5771dd84f4eea/69889205bc6cfcf6b03dcdd2/barack-obama-national-prayer-day-proclamation.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"barack obama national prayer day proclamation","caption":"barack obama national prayer day proclamation","creditText":"Kevin Dietsch/Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4319501/obama-national-day-of-prayer/","name":"Read President Obama's Declaration of a National Day of Prayer"}}]}] ```