Does ipraying for our country make a difference?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: Flag Day doesn’t get much attention these days and I wonder why Americans seem so indifferent to allegiance to our country. Yet I hear a lot of people – even politicians – say that we should pray for our country. Does it really make a difference? – F.D.
A: Prayers lifted to Almighty God can alter history. What a glorious thing it would be if millions of Americans would avail themselves to the greatest form of communication – prayer to the One who hears and knows the anguish of our hearts. We have not yet learned that mankind is more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons or devices known, when prayers are directed to the Lord God.
Our nation was founded by people who prayed. When our government was in the process of being formed, Benjamin Franklin addressed the chairman of the Constitutional Convention meeting at Philadelphia in 1787, saying, “I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, it is probable that an empire cannot rise without His aid.”
Millions of people pray only in times of danger or uncertainty. Sadly, many pray to gods that have no ears to hear and no eyes to see. The world is being carried on a rushing torrent of history that is sweeping out of control. There is but one power available to redeem the course of events, and that is the power of prayer by God-fearing, Christ-believing people.
We must not pray only for His direction; we must pray for His forgiveness for our willful disobedience. And then we must pray with grateful hearts for the blessings He has bestowed on the United States of America.
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
(c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
