The annual National Day of Prayer falls on Thursday, May 1. Activities are planned in Eureka Springs and throughout Carroll County.

A prayer breakfast at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks, by reservation, will include a breakfast buffet, which opens at 6:30 a.m. Joe White, owner of Kanakuk Kamp in Branson, will deliver the message.

A Motorcycle Prayer Run departs the Convention Center at 8:30 a.m., on a planned prayer route arriving at the Christ of the Ozarks statue at 11:45 a.m. There, at the foot of the statue, the noon Prayer Under the Son outdoor event will begin.

Thursday evening at the Carroll County Fairgrounds Indoor Arena, there will be a huge family music and prayer celebration. The fairground's food concession will open at 5 p.m. The Berryville High School Band will begin playing at 5:30 p.m.

Presentation of the colors, the national anthem, songs by a large ecumenical chorale, prayers, and music by the Randy Franz Family will follow.

World-renowned singer John Michael Talbot will deliver a message and close the program with a candlelight service.

The National Day of Prayer dates back to the early days of this nation, and the Continental Congress. Abraham Lincoln also called for a national day of fasting and prayer. In 1952, President Harry Truman and both houses of congress institutionalized a national day of prayer.

In 2007, an estimated two million people attended 40,000 events on this day.