Fort Jackson honored the National Day of Prayer with a prayer breakfast held May 8.

The National Day of Prayer was first called for by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and today it is permanently designated for the first Thursday in May.

Chaplains from across a variety of faiths offered prayers for different aspects of the country.
Chaplain (Capt.) Dovid Egert prayed for the Nation while Chaplain (Capt.) Ronald Manango prayed for the government. Chaplain (Capt.) Jason Jones prayed for the military and Chaplain (Maj.) Jason Seaman prayed for the families.

Retired Col. Carter Price, recruiting analyst for the U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Chaplains and former Army Training Center chief of staff, spoke at the breakfast about the necessity of prayer calling it “an act of obedience.”

“We view prayer as a resource to get what we want to get what we need, a comfort when things go wrong. It’s our 911 …,” he said. “Certainly, prayer provides comfort and resources, but first of all, it is a command, and that’s why it’s important to us as Soldiers. We aren’t just invited to pray because we feel a need. We’re ordered to pray. God requires it. If you want to exercise faith-based prayer, we must understand that prayer is an act of obedience and condition ourselves to its practice.”