How about in the prayer life of our “fathers”?

When the Constitutional Convention was hopelessly deadlocked in 1787, Benjamin Franklin, considered to be the least religious among the delegates then , turned the situation around by saying this reminder, “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger,we had DAILY prayers in this room for DIVINE protection. Our prayers, Sir, were HEARD, and they were graciously ANSWERED (emphases mine). All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend ? Or , do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

Franklin continued, “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘that God GOVERNS (emphasis mine)in the affairs of man.’ And if a sparrow canot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”

During the Revolutionary War American soldiers endured hunger and a critical shortage of clothes and blankets during the bitter winter at Volley Forge. Yet the men were patient and uncomplaining. How was such loyalty and hope kept alive? The answer was uncovered by those who discovered George Washington on his knees in the woods, his cheeks wet with tears as he prayed.

In 1863, during the Civil war, the Senate asked President Lincoln to designate a national day of fasting,humiliation and prayer. Lincoln’s proclamation haunts us today, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven, but we have forgotten God, intoxicated with unbroken success,we became self-sufficient, too proud to pray to the God that made us!” Alas! How easily we have forgotten!

Just few of the many examples we can get from our “fathers” recorded deeds. Just too profound to ignore. The depth of trust and confidence in God is rock solid. No iota of doubt nor wavering. Their anchor of faith holds on to the ROCK…which is GOD ALMIGHTY.

And so we ask, why all the fuzz with the phrase “under God” in our current Pledge ? Again, let me retreat to the early accounts written about the prime shapers and movers of this nation

On July 2, 1776 as the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia to declare independence, George Washington was gathering his troops on Long Island to meet the British in battle. Washington wrote in the general order to his men that day:

“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or  slaves. The fate of unborn millions will now depend,UNDER GOD,on the courage and conduct of this army.”

Lincoln likewise echoed the same belief:

“It is for us the living,rather,to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they have gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, UNDER GOD, shall have a new birth of freedom.”

In prayers and major declared thoughts,God has been the inspiration of these leaders. Gingrich said that like Washington before him, Lincoln understood that America’s new birth of freedom would require that the nation seek the source of its liberties in the same place it had prior to the Civil War, UNDER GOD.

Where is God in America? In the hearts and minds and prayers and works of our “fathers”.

People are used to thinking about prayer as a means to get their personal needs met. However, we should understand prayer as a means to praise and adore God, to know him to come into his presence and be changed by him. We need to better learn how to pray, repent and petition God as a people.Biblically and historically, the one non-negotiable, universal ingredient in times of spiritual renewal is corporate, prevailing, intensive and kingdom-centered prayer. What is that?

1. It is focused on God’s presence and his kingdom.

Jack Miller talks about the difference between “maintenance prayer” and “frontline” prayer meetings. Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical, and totally focused on physical needs inside the church. But frontline prayer has three basic traits:

• A request for grace to confess sins and humble ourselves.
• A compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church.
• A yearning to know God, to see his face, to see his glory.

It is interesting to study Biblical prayer that brings out revival, such as in Acts 4 or Exodus 33 or Nehemiah 1, where these three elements are easy to see. Notice in Acts 4, for example, that the disciples, whose lives have been threatened, did not ask for protection for themselves and their families, but only boldness to keep preaching.

2. It is bold and specific.

The characteristics of this kind of prayer include:

• Pacesetters in prayer spend time in self-examination. Without a strong understanding of grace, this can be morbid and depressing. But in the context of the gospel, it is purifying and strengthening. They “take off their ornaments” (Exodus 33:1-6). They examine themselves for idols and set them aside.
• They then begin to make the big request – a sight of the glory God. That include asking:
  1. For a personal experience of the glory/presence of God: “that I may know you” (Exodus 33:13);
  2. For the people’s experience of the glory of God (v15); and
  3. That the world might see the glory of God through his people (v16). Moses asked that God’s presence be obvious to all

“What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” This is the prayer that the world be awed and amazed by a show of God’s power and radiance in the church, that it would become truly the new humanity that is a sign of the future kingdom.

3. It is prevailing, corporate.

By this we mean simply that prayers should be constant, not sporadic and brief. Why? Are we to think that God wants to see us grovel? Why do we not simply put our request in and wait? But sporadic, short prayer shows a lack of dependence, a self-sufficiency, and thus we have not built an altar that God can honor with his fire. We must pray without ceasing, pray long, pray hard, and we will find that the very process is bringing about that which we are asking for – to have our hard hearts melted, to tear down barriers, to have the glory of God, break through.