“…I
have witnessed the great difficulties to which our Union has been exposed,
and admired the virtue and intelligence with which they have been surmounted.
From the present prosperous and happy state I derive a gratification I
cannot express. That these blessings may be preserved and perpetuated will
be the object of my fervent and unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler
of the Universe.”
John Quincy Adams,
from Eight Annual Message to Congress, Washington D.C.,
December 7, 1824(Prayer
Home)
“…Finally,
it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before whom I now stand,
and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy of our republic to the
present day, that He will so overrule all my intentions and actions and
inspire the hearts of my fellow citizens that we may be preserved from
dangers of all kinds and continue forever a united and happy people.”
Andrew Jackson
from his Second Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4,1833(Prayer
Home)
“…Beyond
that I only look to the gracious protection of the Divine Being whose strengthening
support I humbly solicit, and whom I fervently pray to look down upon us
all. May it be among the dispensations of His providence to bless our beloved
country with honors and with length of days. May her ways be ways of pleasantnessand
all her paths be peace!”
Martin Van Buren
from his Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1837
(Prayer
Home)
“…I
deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify
me inexpressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian
religion and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty,
and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected
with all true and lasting happiness; and to that good Being who has blessed
us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered
the labors of our fathers and has hitherto preserved to us institutions
far exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us unite in
fervently commending every interest of our beloved country in all future
time…”
John Tyler from
his Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1841
(Prayer
Home)
“…I
can express no better hope for my country than that the kind Providence
which smiled upon our fathers may enable their children to preserve the
blessings they have inherited.”
Franklin Pierce
from his Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1853
(Prayer
Home)
“Intelligence,
patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet
forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way
all our present difficulty…We are not enemies, but friends. Though
passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The
mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot
grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will
yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely as they
will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Abraham Lincoln
from his First Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1861, given
as the Civil War was breaking out.
(Prayer
Home)
“…And
while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of peace,
we can but press on, guided by the best light He gives us, trusting that
in His good time, and wise way, all will yet be well…”
Abraham Lincoln
from his Second Annual Message To Congress, Washington D.C.,
December 11, 1862
(Prayer
Home)
“…In
conclusion I ask patient forbearance one toward another throughout the
land, and a determined effort on the part of every citizen to do his share
toward cementing a happy Union; and I ask the prayers of the nation to
Almighty God in behalf of this consummation.”
Ulysses S. Grant
from his First Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1869
(Prayer
Home)
“…And,
above all, upon our efforts to promote the welfare of this great people
and their government, I reverently invoke the support and blessings of
Almighty God.”
James A. Garfield
from his Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1881
(Prayer
Home)
“…Another
centennial day will come, and millions yet unborn will inquire concerning
our stewardship and the safety of their Constitution. God grant that they
may find it unimpaired; and as we rejoice in the patriotism and devotion
of those who lived hundred years ago, so may others who follow us rejoice
in our fidelity and in our jealous love for constitutional liberty.”
Grover Cleveland
from The Centennial of the Constitution, Philadelphia, PA,
September 17,
1887.
(Prayer
Home)
“…Above
all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose
goodness and mercy
have always followed the American people, and I know He will
not turn from us
now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid.”
Grover Cleveland
from his Second Inaugural Address, Washington D.C.,
March 4, 1893.
(Prayer
Home)
“…No
other people have a government more worthy of their respect and love, or
a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so full
of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor. God has placed upon our
head a diadem, and has laid at our feet power and wealth beyond definition
or calculation. But we must not forget that we take these gifts upon the
condition that justice and mercy shall hold the reins of power, and that
the upward avenues of hope shall be free to all people…”
Benjamin Harrison
from his Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., March 4, 1889
(Prayer
Home)
“…The
only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt from a speech dictated at Warm Springs, GA, April
11,1945 a day before
he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
(Prayer
Home)
“…Operating
from the firm base of our spiritual and physical strength, and seeking
wisdom from the Almighty, we and our allies together will continue to work
for the survival of mankind in freedom – and for the goal of mutual
respect, mutual understanding, and openness among all nations…”
Dwight David Eisenhower,
The U-2 Incident, Washington D.C., May 25 1960
(Prayer
Home)
“…To
all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s
prayerful and continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths,
all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that
those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all
who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those
who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that
all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that
the scourges of poverty, disease, and ignorance will be made to disappear
from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come
to live together in peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect
and love.”
Dwight David Eisenhower
from his Farewell Address, Washington D.C., January 17, 1961(Prayer
Home)
“…As
we face the coming challenge, we too, shall wait upon the Lord, and ask
that He renew our strength. Then shall we be equal to the test. Then we
shall no be weary. And then we shall prevail.”
John F. Kennedy,
The New Frontier, Los Angeles, California, July 15, 1960(Prayer
Home)
“…Our
destiny offers not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity.
So let us seize it not in fear, but I gladness – and “riders
on the earth together,” let us go forward, firm in our faith, steadfast
in our purpose, cautious of the dangers, but sustained by our confidence
in the will of God and the promise of man.”
Richard M. Nixon
from his First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1969
(Prayer
Home)
“…My
fellow Americans, I once asked you for your prayers, and now I give you
mine. May God guide this wonderful country, its people, and those they
have chosen to lead them. May our third century be illuminated by liberty
and blessed with brotherhood, so that we and all who come after us may
be the humble servants of thy peace. Amen.”
Gerald Ford, Farewell
Address, from the State of the Union Address, Washington D.C.,
January 12, 1977
(Prayer
Home)
“…All
our religious doctrines give us hope. In the Koran, we read:”But
if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace,
and trust in God; for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the prophet Isaiah said:”Nations shall beat their swords in plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war no more.”
So let us now
lay aside war. Let us now reward all the children of Abraham who hunger
for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Let us now enjoy the adventure
of becoming fully human, fully neighbors, even brothers and sisters. We
pray God, we pray God together, that these dreams will come true. I believe
they will…”
Jimmy Carter,
Peace In The Middle East, Washington D.C., March 26, 1979
(Prayer
Home)
“…They
were not afraid to stand up for their country or no matter how difficult
and slow the journey might be, to give to others that last best hope of
a better future. We cannot and will not dishonor them now and their sacrifices
they made by failing to remain faithful to the cause of freedom and the
pursuit of peace as they have been. I will not ask you to pray for the
dead because they are safe in God’s loving arms and beyond need of
our prayers. I would like to ask you all, wherever you may be in this blessed
land, to pray for these wounded young men and to pray for the bereaved
families of those who gave their lives for our freedom. God bless you and
God bless America.”
Ronald Reagan
speech on the loss of soldier in Lebanon and Grenada, Washington D.C.,
October 27, 1983
(Prayer
Home)
PRAYERS
FOR THE NATION
Lord, give
us faith that right makes might. Grant, O merciful God, that with malice
towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as you
give us to see the right, we may strive to finish the work we are in;
to bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all that may achieve
and cherish a just, and a lasting peace among ourselves and all nations.
Amen.
Adapted
from Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 1865
(Prayer
Home)
Prayers
and Meditations Of George Washington
“I shall
rely, confidently, on that Providence which has hitherto preserved and
been
bountiful to me.” 1775
(Prayer
Home)
“The Continental
Congress having ordered Friday, the 17th instant (May, 1776),
to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, humbly to supplicate
the mercy of Almighty God, that it would please Him to pardon our manifold
sins
and transgressions, and to prosper the arms of the United Colonies, and firmly
establish the peace and freedom of America, upon a solid and lasting foundation…”1776
(Prayer
Home)
“ Providence
has heretofore taken us up, when all other means and hope seemed
to be departing from us. In this I will confide.” 1778
(Prayer
Home)
“My friends
may believe me sincere, in my professions of attachment to them, whilst
Providence has a claim to my humble and grateful thanks for its protection
and direction of me, through the many difficult and intricate scenes which
this contest has produced; and for its constant interposition in our behalf,
when the clouds were heaviest, and seemed ready to burst upon us…” 1778
(Prayer
Home)
“I trust,
the goodness of the cause, and the exertions of the people, and Divine
Protection, will give us that honorable peace for which we are contending.” 1779
(Prayer
Home)
“Our affairs
are brought to a perilous crisis, that the hand of Providence, I trust,
may be more conspicuous in our deliverance. The many remarkable interpositions
of the Divine Government, in the hours of our deepest distress and darkness,
have been too luminous, to suffer me to doubt the happy issue of the present
contest.” 1781
(Prayer
Home)
“I commend
my friends, and, with them, the interests and happiness of our dear country,
to the keeping and protection of Almighty God.” 1783
(Prayer
Home)
“I now make
it my earnest prayer, that God would have the ( United States) Governors
and States in His holy protection, that He would incline the hearts of
the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government,
to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their
fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their
brethren who have served in the Fields, and finally, that He would most
graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy,
and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility, and pacific temper
of mind which were the Characteristiks of the Divine Author of our blessed
Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things,
we can never hope to be a happy Nation. Amen.” June 8, 1783
(Prayer
Home)
“The foundation
of a great empire is laid; and I please myself with the persuasion, that
Providence will not leave its work imperfect.” 1786
(Prayer
Home)
“We may,
with a kind of pious and grateful exultation, trace the finger of Providence
through these dark and mysterious events, which first induced the States
to appoint a General Convention, and then led them, one after another,
by such steps as were best calculated to effect the object, into the adoption
of a system recommended by that General Convention; thereby, in all human
probability, laying a lasting foundation for tranquility and happiness,
when we had but to much reason to fear, that confusion and misery were
coming rapidly upon us. That the same good Providence may still continue
to protect us, and prevent us from dashing the cup of national felicity,
just as it has been lifted to our lips, is my earnest prayer.” 1788
(Prayer
Home)
“I trust
in that Providence, which as saved us in six troubles, yea, in seven, to
rescue us again from any imminent, though unseen dangers. Nothing, however,
on our part, ought to be left undone.” 1788
(Prayer
Home)
“That great
and glorious Being is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that
is, or that will be.” 1789
(Prayer
Home)
“When I
contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was manifested in guiding
us through the Revolution, in preparing us for the reception of a general
government, and in conciliating the good will of the people of America
towards one another, after its adoption, I feel myself oppressed, and almost
overwhelmed, with a sense of the Divine Munificence.” 1789
(Prayer
Home)
“May we
unite, in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the Great
Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other
trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations,
to perform our several and relative duties, properly and punctually; to
render our national government a blessing to all people, by constantly
being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and
faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and
nations, and to bless them with good governments, peace and concord; to
promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the
increase of science, among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all
mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity, as He alone knows to be best.” 1789
(Prayer
Home)
“Do not
flatter me with vain hopes. I am not afraid to die, and therefore can hear
the worst. Whether to-night, or twenty years hence, makes no difference.
I know, that I am in the hands of a good Providence.” 1789
(Prayer
Home)
“May the
same Wonder-working Diety, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their
Egyptian oppressors, and planted them in the Promised Land; whose providential
agency has lately been conspicuous, in establishing these United States
as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of
heaven, and to make the inhabitants, of every denomination, participate
in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.” 1790
(Prayer
Home)
“The Great
Ruler of Events will not permit the happiness of so many millions to be
destroyed.” 1792
(Prayer
Home)
“As the
All-wise Disposer of events has hitherto watched over my steps, I trust,
that, in the important one I may soon be called upon to take, He will mark
the course so plainly, that I cannot mistake the way.” 1792
(Prayer
Home)
“The rapidity
of national revolutions appears no less astonishing than their magnitude.
In what they will terminate, is known only to the Great Ruler of events;
and confiding in His wisdom and goodness, we may safely trust the issue
to Him, without perplexing ourselves to seek for that which is beyond our
ken; only take care to perform the parts assigned to us, in a way that
reason and our own consciences approve.” 1793
(Prayer
Home)
“Let us
unite, in imploring the Supreme Ruler of Nations, to spread His holy protection
over these United States; to turn the machinations of the wicked, to the
confirming of our Constitution; to enable us, at all times, to root out
internal sedition, and put invasion to flight; to perpetuate to our country
that prosperity, which His goodness has already conferred, and to verify
the anticipations of this government being a safeguard of human rights.” 1794
(Prayer
Home)
“It is not
for man, to scan to wisdom of Providence. The best we can do is, to submit
to the decrees of Providence…Reason, religion, and philosophy teach
us to submit; but it is time alone, that can ameliorate the pangs of humanity,
and soften its woes.” 1797
(Prayer
Home)
“Satisfied,
that we have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted,
to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts,
appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may confidently trust
the final result to that kind Providence, which has hitherto, and so often,
signally favored the people of the United States.” 1798
(Prayer
Home)
“The ways
of Providence are inscrutable, and mortals must submit.” 1799
(Prayer
Home)
“Father of
mercies, take me to thyself.” Dec. 14,1799
(Prayer
Home)
