Reproduced with the kind permission of the author GE114/07

America still needs prayer


By Judge Roy Moore

30th April 2008

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, a day when our government follows a long tradition of encouraging the people of the United States to pray for our nation. Though the day was first made official by President Harry S Truman in 1952, prayer has always been an important part of American civil proceedings. But one of the dangers of a "tradition" is that we tend to forget the purpose of the act and, in the case of prayer, the powerful God we are supposed to be addressing.

Much to the chagrin of the ACLU and other secular groups, public prayer has a long and distinguished place in American history.

In 1774, the First Congress began with prayer for wisdom and blessings from God. Benjamin Franklin, remembering these daily prayers, reminded the Constitutional Convention 13 years later of the need for "imploring the assistance of heaven" lest their proceedings fare "no better than the Builders of Babel." To this day, both houses of Congress and most local legislatures open their sessions with a prayer.

Even the U.S. Supreme Court, with its tendency to oppose public acknowledgments of God, opens its court sessions with what that Court has called a prayer: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court." And although many opinions by that Court have stripped prayer from schools and public places, the Court in Marsh v. Chambers in 1983 could not bring itself to strike down prayer in the Nebraska legislature, stating:

In light of the unambiguous and unbroken history of more than 200 years, there can be no doubt that the practice of opening legislative sessions with prayer has become part of the fabric of our society.

Since the inauguration of President George Washington, American presidents have invoked God in their speeches and called on the people to humbly beseech Him as a nation. Washington's first proclamation, on Oct. 3, 1789, called for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving, inviting all Americans to "unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations." On March 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, noting that America had "forgotten God," proclaimed a national day of "humiliation, fasting and prayer" so that the people would humble themselves "before the offended Power" and seek forgiveness for "our national sins." In times of national disaster, war and victory, presidents throughout our history have called on the people to seek God in prayer.

Sadly, too many judges today like to call prayer and other civil acknowledgments of God mere "ceremonial deism," a historic relic that has no "religious" significance. In fact, in cases involving public prayer in courts and legislative bodies, only those traditions that have decades or more of history behind them tend to survive legal challenge. Unfortunately, that means that only empty, generic references to God are allowed.

Jesus called such lip service "hypocrisy" when the Pharisees exalted their man-made traditions above the true worship of God.

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias (Isaiah) prophesy of you, saying, 'This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' (Matt. 15:7-9)

If we are not careful, we too may fall into the trap of merely acknowledging God with our mouths because we have always done so, but not because our hearts are truly in it. If all we are offering with habits of prayer and vain references to God is "ceremonial deism" then we will get the answer we deserve: none.

The founders prayed because they believed in a real God who could actually meet their needs – not to begin a nice American tradition. As a nation, we still need to call out to God for forgiveness, mercy and blessings. Second Chronicles 7:14 reminds us that only God can heal our land:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

But that which follows also gives a somber warning to those who reject Him:

But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

Like any father, our heavenly father wants our love and devotion, not mere lip-service. On this National Day of Prayer, let us echo the Founding Fathers' appeal to the "Supreme judge of the world" for the welfare of our nation. America's traditions may encourage such prayer, but our future as a nation firmly depends on it.

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