WRITTEN IN STONE

How quickly we forget . . .

During the Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia in 1787, the differences of opinion regarding certain components of the proposed constitution had brought the assembly to a near impasse. Benjamin Franklin arose to encourage the delegates to move forward. Here are some of his words - read what Ben Franklin said about prayer and the Almighty God:

“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. 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?”

In 1863, when the Civil War was in its darkest days, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of prayer and fasting. The concept of an American president calling for prayer and fasting is foreign to us today. How very sad.

Here is part of the text of President Lincoln’s proclamation - it sounds like it was written today, except for the call to confession and prayer:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

“It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

The following is a statement from a concerned American:

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

Who said that? Was it Billy Graham or another prominent modern Christian? It was said by Thomas Jefferson and is found on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It is written in stone.

. . . how quickly we forget.

Pray for America.