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Ahead of Thursday's National Day of Prayer, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford prayed for the United States on the Senate Floor.

In his prayer, Sen. Lankford prayer for the anger, division and hatred to be removed from American politics and the nation. Prayers were also lifted, asking for guidance to be given to the federal employees that serve the nation daily.

That same guidance was asked for the everyday citizens like you who serve the look communities. Sen. Lankford prayed that the nation would learn to love one another, represent the Lord as He has called the nation to best represent Him and to set the tone for a world that is watching.

The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Ronald Reagan to designate the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.

During his speech Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford addressed the attacks on synagogues and bombings on Christians.

As he addressed the attacks on synagogues in the United States, the bombings of Christians in Sri Lanka, the gun battles that have erupted in churches in the United States, the mosques that have been attacked, the people of faith being targeted simply because of their faith, he asked one question. His question, matching this year's National Day of Prayer theme, was this: ‘how are we loving one another?’

Sen. Lankford joined Maine Senator Angus King to introduce a resolution to recognize Thursday, May 2, 2019, as this year’s National Day of Prayer. Lankford served as the honorary co-chair of the 2019 National Prayer Breakfast and serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

While Sen. Lankford acknowledged that it is not a requirement for Americans to pray, he wanted to address that the nation - as well as the world - has a great need for something more, for something better.