PHOENIX - A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's proclamations declaring a state "day of prayer."

Judge Eileen Willett granted a motion to dismiss with prejudice, meaning the court cannot be asked to rule on the same issue again.

A U.S. District judge in Arizona dismissed the same challenge in December by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The foundation claimed the proclamations violate a constitutional prohibition against government establishment of religion and filed suit in Arizona's federal court in March 2010...

An Indiana congressman is looking into possible "misinterpretation" of federal guidelines after a local food pantry was cut off from federal aid for asking clients to pray, FoxNews.com has learned.

Todd Young, a Republican congressman serving Indiana's 9th District, has contacted state officials regarding Community Provisions of Jackson County, a food pantry in Seymour whose director, Paul Brock, insists he will not stop asking clients if they want to pray with him or one of its 45 volunteers when they receive food.

"It certainly appears there is a misinterpretation of some rules," Young's spokesman, Trevor Foughty, told FoxNews.com. "We want to make sure that no one is being denied the public assistance that they need."

Brock told FoxNews.com that he never requires anyone to pray in order to receive nourishment they need.

"We ask them if they want to pray with us; if they say no, then we just let them go on through," Brock said. "We're not a church.

Republican lawmakers and conservative activists are expressing outrage after the Obama administration announced its objection to adding President Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The objection was noted during a congressional hearing on Rep. Bill Johnson's, R-Ohio, bill -- the "World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011."

"It is unconscionable that the Obama administration would stand in the way of honoring our nation's distinguished World War II veterans," Johnson said. "President Roosevelt's prayer gave solace, comfort and strength to our nation and our brave warriors as we fought against tyranny and oppression"...

A North Carolina county is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a challenge to its policy over prayer at public meetings.

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of two Forsyth County residents who sued in 2007 after a meeting was opened with prayer in the name of Jesus. But Debra Conrad, vice chair of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, tells OneNewsNow there is nothing to support the complaint that most of the county's prayers are Christian.

"We have had individuals from all different denominations of Christianity, as well as other religions that are not Christian. So we're not defending any particular faith," she explains...

Besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters, America -- says Texas Governor Rick Perry -- is in the midst of a historic crisis. And for those reasons, he and other Christians will gather in Houston on Saturday for a day of prayer and fasting.

The Texas governor has been under attack from those who think he is merely using the event to bolster his political career. But David Barton, a Christian historian, president of WallBuilders, and of those who will help lead prayer at Saturday's event, insists Governor Perry is not promoting the event to call attention to his presidential prospects.

"He called this event when he was not thinking politics at all," Barton accounts. "When he called this event, he and I had just spoken, and the furthest thing from his mind was anything national. This is just a time to pray"...

Governor Rick Perry's prayer rally scheduled for August 6 has drawn criticism ranging from atheist groups to liberal faith leaders across the country. During a recent conference call with spiritual leaders, however, organizers insisted there are no underlying political agendas.

With the prayer rally now less than a month away, supporters say they sense the event could be a landmark day. Dubbed "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis," more than 6,000 people from around the nation have registered on its website, TheResponseUSA.com.

John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, said he expects to have at least ten bus loads of participants from the church he serves at the event. "We all sense that our nation is going the wrong direction," said Hagee during the conference call, "and only God can bring it back to where it needs to go"...

Arizona school children are told they can't pray in front of the Supreme Court building ... Two University of Texas Arlington employees are fired for praying over a co-worker's cubicle after work hours ... In Cranston, R.I., a high school banner causes controversy when a parent complains it contains a prayer and demands that it be removed.

There are more legal challenges to prayer in the United States than ever before, says Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization whose business is booming as Americans increasingly tackle church vs. state issues.

"We've never had more complaints about government prayer," Gaylor says. "We have just hired a second staff attorney in July.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - A weakened school prayer bill has been sent to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

The legislation inspired by a Florida Panhandle lawsuit received final passage 27-9 in the state Senate on Thursday. It earlier passed 107-8 in the House.

The bill would bar schools from infringing on the First Amendment freedoms of teachers, staff or students unless they sign a written waiver of those rights...

Evangelist Franklin Graham is calling on people of faith to pray for President Obama and his advisors in the wake of Graham's rejection as a speaker at the Pentagon early next month. One Pentagon advisor says that rejection wouldn't have happened while George W. Bush was in the White House.

Last week, after the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other groups complained about statements Graham had made about Islam, the Army announced he was no longer invited to be the lead speaker at a May 6 Pentagon service held in conjunctions with the National Day of Prayer. His earlier comments about the Muslim faith were "not appropriate," stated an Army spokesman...

(CNSNews.com) - Conservative legal experts say a federal district judge in Wisconsin had no legal basis for declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional – and predict the decision cannot stand.

“If the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional, then the Constitution itself if unconstitutional,” Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law in Lynchburg, Va., told CNSNews.com.

“The National Day of Prayer – or prayer itself – is older than the Constitution,” Staver said. “There is no question it will be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court”...