Still Praying for America

By Jonathan Falwell

On May 6, 1982, President Ronald Reagan stated:

"Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are 'one nation under God,' and our currency bears the motto, 'In God We Trust.' The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril. Yet in recent years, well-meaning Americans in the name of freedom have taken freedom away. For the sake of religious tolerance, they've forbidden religious practice in the classrooms. The law of this land has effectively removed prayer from our classrooms. How can we hope to retain our freedom through the generations if we fail to teach our young that our liberty springs from an abiding faith in our Creator?"

Twenty-seven years later on the National Day of Prayer (Thursday), our religious freedoms continue to diminish beyond anything President Reagan could have imagined.

I believe prayer for our nation has never been more important as we witness an accelerating anti-Christian fervor in the so-called mainstream of our culture. The result of this campaign is that many of our fellow Americans having absolutely no idea of the rich Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation. Subsequently, few raise an eyebrow when a valedictorian is barred from mentioning Jesus at a graduation service or a Ten Commandments display is taken down in a public arena or a cross necklace is banned in the workplace.

In the midst of the present disinformation campaign regarding our history of faith and freedom, it is no wonder that Newsweek magazine recently proclaimed on its front page "The End of Christian America," or that the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who are unaffiliated with any particular faith has doubled in recent years.

This is not what our founders intended; they wanted a prayerful citizenry that understood the need for God's involvement in our nation. As I write this column, my mind hearkens back to the First Continental Congress in May 1775, when our wise delegates called for a National Day of Prayer, which included these words:

"that we may … by sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease God's righteous displeasure, and, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain this pardon and forgiveness."

Two years later, the Continental Congress authorized the distribution of 20,000 Bibles for the troops, noting the "importance" of Scripture. And in October 1780, the Continental Congress again issued a Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer.

Observing prayer, studying the Bible, living with respect for the Almighty: this was a way of life for our early citizens.

The fact is that our nation is clearly founded in prayer and the study of God's Word. Today's civil libertarians ignore our unmistakable history when they attempt to stifle religious expression in our nation.

In 1952 Congress and President Harry Truman established the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, while in 1988 the first Thursday in May became the official observance for the event, with President Reagan signing it into law.

Today, our president has given symbolic support to the National Day of Prayer, but I believe that our nation needs an impassioned call to our collective knees. President John Adams declared May 9, 1798, as...

"a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer," with our citizens beseeching God "that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it."

What a pertinent prayer for this day and age.

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