In 1952, Congress established National Day of Prayer, an observance encouraging Americans to unite in prayer during times of uncertainty and challenge. Today, National Day of Prayer serves as an opportunity to reflect on the importance of resilience, connection, and personal strength and how these values are essential Sailors’ readiness.
At Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, the pastoral services department recognized National Day of Prayer by promoting spiritual readiness throughout the command. Chaplains and Religious Program Specialists staged prayer boards across the hospital, inviting Sailors, staff members, and patients to write personal prayers for the Chaplain team to read and pray over during the observance.
“Regardless of faith, National Day of Prayer is about expressing our gratitude, reflecting on life, and promoting unity,” said Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class Nick Leyba, assigned to NMCP’s Pastoral Services department. “The boards are a means to collect prayers due to the busy nature of the hospital. In that way, it’s a means to allow for maximum participation in the command.”
The initiative highlighted spiritual readiness being a key component of warrior toughness. Alongside mental and physical readiness, spiritual readiness helps Sailors build the resilience, purpose, and resolve needed to overcome adversity on and off duty.
“People around the nation today were praying, just as we did here at the hospital. We have our prayer boards out there; we're really connected to a larger spiritual engagement that's taking place,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ben Mayhugh, a chaplain at NMCP. “It's really special for us that people see prayer as a necessary step to take and trying to get help with the things that they are carrying around, or to even just give thanks and praise for something good that's happened. Making that connection with the divine and having that be a part of our day here in the hospital just shows how spirituality and clinical care go together.”
The simple act of writing and sharing prayers encouraged Sailors to take a break and reflect on their own sources of strength and support. The observance reinforced Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Portsmouth’s ongoing mission to support the spiritual fitness and overall readiness of all Sailors.
A total of 85 prayers were collected during the 7-hour timeframe. The observance demonstrates how spiritual readiness remains a key part of building resilient warfighters capable of meeting the challenges of military service while supporting one another through shared faith, compassion, and community.