(CL) – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who’s vocal about his religious faith, has proclaimed October 10 as an “official day of prayer and fasting for our state.” In a video posted online, the Republican leader invites residents to join him and his wife, Maria, to devote that Thursday to prayers of healing, forgiveness, thanksgiving, and hope. “Prayer,” he says, “strengthens our families and it strengthens our communities, it strengthens our relationship with our neighbors, it strengthens our relationship with God himself.” Lee credits the idea to the “countless” Tennesseans he’s met who say they’re praying for him. In his video, the governor expresses appreciation for all these intercessions. “We know that God hears them,” he says.
“We know that prayer accomplishes much.” Of the state’s 6.7 million residents, 81 percent say they’re Christian; of those, 52 percent call themselves evangelicals. According to the Pew Research Center, Tennessee is America’s third most religious state, after Alabama and Mississippi. In a 2016 survey, 73 percent of Tennessee adults identified themselves as “highly religious.” America has a National Day of Prayer, observed on the first Thursday in May, but governors sometimes declare a day of prayer for a state—often during emergencies. This year, for example, several Midwestern governors made such proclamations following severe flooding. READ MORE
