A Father's Prayer
During the desperate months of continued war which resulted in the birth of
our great nation, these United States of America, Washington drew on his faith
in God. On one occasion, his landlord, Isaac Potts, observed Washington's horse
tied near a grove of trees and crept nearer to where he could hear Washington
praying to God as he knelt in the snow. He stood motionless until Washington
finished his prayers and left the grove. Potts later returned to his house and
said to his wife, Sarah,
"If George Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly
deceived-and still more shall I be deceived, if God does not, through him work
out a great salvation for America."
This prayer is a legacy to all Americans,
which was written by George Washington the founding father and the first
President of this great United States of America. A framed, calligraphied copy
can be found within the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge:
Almighty God; we make our earnest prayer
that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt
incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and
obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one
another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And
finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do
justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and
pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine author of
our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these
things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we
beseech thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
When he was sworn in as the first President
of the United States in New York on April 30, 1789, his left hand rested on the
Bible. It had been opened between the 49th and 50th
chapter of Genesis. He then kissed the Bible and reverently said: “So
help-me-God.
Note: The great founding father of this
nation was a man who was raised in a Christian home with a praying mother who
was often said to be on her knees praying for her son.
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