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America Must Pray

By Dr. Mal Couch

Public prayer, spiritual publications of poems and music, have always been a part of America, until recently. There are forces now trying to silence the Christian spiritual heritage of open and free expression to our God that made this nation great.

Each week I’ll add some historical tidbits as how Christian expression and public prayer was a vital part of our nation’s blessing. We may not fully know of the spiritual state of all the men we examine, but we do know none of them were fearful of prayers to the God of the Bible in the public setting.

If you are a pastor or Sunday school teacher, please print off these little bits of our history and share them with others.

John Witherspoon

Over half the ministers in the colonies gave their support to the Revolutionary war. They became chaplains, members of state legislatures, public servants in all fields, and even joined the army to fight. With their help they had the Continental Congress endorse a new Bible, created a national day of prayer and fasting that would be celebrated twice a year throughout the war. They saw the war as a "sinless just cause." They saw the spiritual climate and the renewed spiritual revival in the colonies as a "saving acquaintance with God through prayer."

One of the most famous American clergyman of the Revolution was John Witherspoon. He had come to America to be the president of the College of New Jersey from his native Scotland. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister well known for his piety and intellectual brilliance. As a delegate from New Jersey he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Witherspoon was enlisted behind the scenes to draw up the official declaration about prayer and fasting.

Witherspoon continued to write the official government prayer decrees of Congress. On December 18, 1777, he drafted the first proclamation calling for a day of thanksgiving throughout the colonies. Gratitude and thanksgiving were always in all his prayers. On one occasion he wrote:

We are to adore the Superintending Providence of Almighty God for the innumerable bounties of His Common Providence. ... The citizens of these United States need to continue to rededicate themselves and their cause to Divine Providence, He who is our shield in the day of battle, our comforter in the hour of death and our kind parent and merciful judge through time and through eternity.

Most of the pastors of that day were staunch Presbyterians or Dutch Reformed. They along with many Anglican pastors were Calvinists who held to the absolute sovereignty and total providence of God in all things.