Abraham Lincoln

Acknowledge the Almighty God with Thanksgiving

Acknowledge the Almighty God with Thanksgiving

Who Was the First U.S. President to Declare a National Day of Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving In light of celebrating Thanksgiving here in the U.S. tomorrow, I thought I’d share a bit of history I ran across recently at Paul’s Primer. (Be sure to check out his site for more details.)

So do you know who the first U.S. President was to declare a National Day of Thanksgiving?

Thursday, November 26th was proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day by President George Washington on October 3, 1789, and designated by the national government of the United States of America.

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’” — President George Washington

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November of 1863, and since then it has been observed annually in the United States.

The above proclamation by President George Washington is so powerful!

Just think if the majority of us were still practicing this today?

  • Acknowledging the providence of the Almighty God
  • Obeying His will
  • Grateful for His benefits
  • Humbly requesting His protection and favor
  • Government representatives requesting this of the people
  • Public thanksgiving and prayer to God
  • Acknowledging with grateful hearts the many favors of the Almighty God
  • Thanking God for a peaceable government for our safety and happiness

May we all, with grateful hearts, acknowledge the Almighty God with the Thanksgiving He deserves!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours –

God bless you,
Brenda

P.S. If you would like to leave a comment and share something you are thankful for this year, please do!

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