Please give me a President who Prays

I hear the hue and cry of the Left (Socialists, Liberals, Progressives, Democrats, whatever) over the audacity of the Governor of Texas not only attending, but leading a prayer service called “The Response.”  Burdened as I am with a love of our history, I recalled an episode where one of the Founding Fathers who popular mythology brands as non-religious, stood up and his faith changed the direction of a country if not the world.   

In her book "Miracle at Philadelphia; The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787" Catherine Drinker Bowen tells the story of a deadlocked Constitution Convention.  The delegates had come to loggerheads over how the various States would be represented.  Big States of course didn't want to come under the sway of the smaller ones while the small States didn't want to be overwhelmed by the larger ones.  Chaos had reigned for several weeks until Benjamin Franklin who had not spoken much at the Constitutional Convention stood up and addressed these remarks to the President of the Convention George Washington: 

"In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings?"

Bowen explains: Franklin here reminded the Convention how at the beginning of the war with England, the Continental Congress had had prayers for divine protection - and in this very room, "Our prayers, Sir, were heard," said Franklin, "and they were graciously answered.  All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Super-intending providence in our favor.  To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity.  And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? . . . . 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 man." 

If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground unseen by him, Franklin continued, was it probable an empire could rise without his aid?  "I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.  We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word to future ages.  And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance despair of establishing governments of human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, and conquest."   

"I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service." 

A delegate from Georgia - William Few, described that morning of June twenty-eighth as "an awful and critical moment.  If the Convention had then adjourned, the dissolution of the union of the states seemed inevitable."

The motion by Franklin was defeated largely because there were no funds to pay clergy, however ministers did attend to the convention at no cost.  Jonathan Dayton (NJ) recorded that after the renewed focus on God “We assembled again; and . . . every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated.”  

A motion by Edmund Jennings Randolph (VA) for the entire group to attend a special day of prayer on July 4^th was passed.  In his book “The Myth of Separation” David Barton reports:

“. . . the entire Convention assembled in the Reformed Calvinistic Church and heard a sermon by Rev. William Rogers.” 

The newly found sense of cooperation resulted in “The Great Compromise” our bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  

In our current on-going disaster they have tried everything else – surely prayer couldn’t hurt. 

Is it any wonder then that Governor Rick Perry thought that our Nation could benefit from prayer? 

I know who I’m voting for in 2012.