National Prayer Luncheon held for Laughlin

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jimmie D. Pike
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
On Feb. 27, Laughlin hosted the annual National Prayer Luncheon, "Prayer- A Last Resort or Our First Line of Defense," at Club XL from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

"The annual prayer luncheon is a great opportunity for people of all faith backgrounds to come together a pray for our Nation," said Chaplain (Maj.) Andrew McIntosh, 47th Flying Training Wing chaplain. "It helps show unity within the nation and serves as a reminder of the need to pray for one another."

During the luncheon, speakers from different religious backgrounds took a moment for prayer from books of their own faith. Prayers included readings from Mormon, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian books of faith.

After lunch was served, the guest speaker, retired Chaplain (Col.) Al Hockaday, spoke about prayer and the importance of praying.

"What is prayer?" asked Hockaday. "It's the soul's desire unspoken, it's an unexpressed emotion of hidden fire from the breast, it's the second wind of a solo."

Hockaday went on to discuss the need to pray first before all things go wrong rather than as a last resort.

"When we pray it focuses us, it moves us, in the direction of need rather than the direction of comfort," said Hockaday. "Prayer can give us the ability to face challenges and nameless opponents. It's gives us the ability to focus on what is empowering."

Prayers are another level of response that we do not have words for, explained Hockaday. With the response however, we must also put action behind our words to give the prayer validity.

"Someone can pray for the hungry to be fed," said Hockaday. "But if they are not willing to feed the hungry with the food they have, they are doing nothing more than hoping. We must use our abilities to make prayers come alive, because we have the means to feed the world."


In closing, Col. Mark Doria, 47th Flying Training Wing vice commander, explained the need for prayer to help military members and their relatives.

"Prayer can help families face the challenges of deployment," said Doria. "By nurturing our spiritual lives, we can better fulfill our missions."