Day of Prayer celebrated in DuPage Co.

After her son suffered lung damage as a newborn 24 years ago, Barbara Dwyer turned to prayer.

The Naperville resident continued to ask God for help as her son struggled for years with lung-related health issues.

As Christians across the nation gathered on Thursday to observe the 58th annual National Day of Prayer, Dwyer told audience members during a community breakfast in Glendale Heights that her prayers eventually were answered. She said her son is now "medication and asthma free."

"Prayer does indeed impact our lives," Dwyer said to the crowd of 130 people at Glendale Lakes Golf Club. "It's easy to see that fear is on the increase in our nation. And we need to remember now more than ever that God is with us.

"He's a place of refuge," she added. "He's a rock we can hide on."

Dwyer, president of Inspire! Ministry for Women, was the keynote speaker during the breakfast, which was sponsored by Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights and other community groups.

The event was among several National Day of Prayer observances held Thursday in DuPage County, including an interfaith gathering at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Naperville.

Roughly 250 people participated in a series of prayers during the county's observance at Danada House in Wheaton. DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, one of the elected officials in attendance, called prayer "an American tradition."

Congress originally established an annual day of prayer in 1952. The first Thursday in May was formally designated as the National Day of Prayer in 1988.

Gregg Quiggle, professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute, said Americans throughout history have relied on prayer in times of crisis. He pointed to a recession in the 1850s that inspired a national "movement of earnest, powerful, prevailing prayer."

And with the country in another economic downturn, Quiggle said the lesson learned from history is that "now is the time to pray."

"If we as a people believe that we can solve our problems without the help of all mighty God," he said, "we are sorely deceived."