Thanksgiving Day of Prayer 2009

What will you be doing on the Monday before Thanksgiving: Cleaning? Hitting the grocery store? Dusting off the handprint turkey your daughter made in third grade?

Here at GUIDEPOSTS, Monday, November 23, is a very special day. It’s our Thanksgiving Day of Prayer.

After compiling prayer requests for weeks from all over the world, we gather on that Day—GUIDEPOSTS staff from all five locations,  hundreds of volunteers in their homes, and others online—to pray by name and by need for  the thousands of requests we receive.

Due to the severe economic challenges we’ve all faced in the last year, it’s not surprising that finances and job-related prayer requests are on the rise this year. But requests for improved health, relationships, and spiritual guidance issues have also come in.

Because so many people are feeling challenged, OurPrayer manager Peola C. Hicks says she is encouraging people to concentrate on the “Thanks” part of Thanksgiving.

“We ask people to remember those who have been influencers in their lives, and to be thankful for the gifts and resources that God has given them. It’s a time to focus on being grateful,” says Hicks. “This holiday is a call to have a heart of gratitude. Reminding people [of that] is our service to those who rely on us to be their spiritual ally.”

And what will Hicks be praying for this year? Like most people, she’s grateful for a loving family.

“I’ll pray especially for my mom, whose health is not the greatest. But I thank God she has a positive attitude and believes God has not abandoned her even though her knees and back are giving her a fit. Though her body doesn’t always function well, her mind is sharp. And I’ll pray for my two daughters, and my husband who among other things, cooks for our family three days a week. And I’m thankful for GUIDEPOSTS, and that I have an opportunity to do ministry at work.”

OurPrayer, part of the Outreach Division of GUIDEPOSTS, is a central part of the non-denominational organization created by the husband and wife team of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Ruth Stafford Peale. As a way to reach out and serve people in need, a live Prayer Line was set up—and benefiting from modern technology, this ministry has expanded to the web.