Prayers of Our Presidents

By Chip MacGregor

What do U.S. Presidents pray about? Mostly, they pray for wisdom as they serve our country and represent the United States to her citizens as well as countries around the globe. Prayers of thanksgiving and appeals for justice are equally relevant today just as they were in Abraham Lincoln's or Teddy Roosevelt's day. Enjoy thirty pithy prayers from the presidents as well as a brief "life and times" section about included leaders. Mini-biographies that are pleasantly free of partisan swagger make this an enjoyable read whatever your political leanings. Let this book introduce you to the men of faith who have served in the oval office.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chip MacGregor
• Release date: Feb 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301026388

Book preview

Prayers of Our Presidents

By Chip MacGregor and Marie Prys

Copyright 2013 by Chip MacGregor and Marie Prys

Smashwords Edition

Published in association with MacGregor Literary, Inc., Portland, Oregon.

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Table of Contents

Day One - George Washington: A Prayer for Guidance

Day Two - John Adams: A Prayer for Success

Day Three - Thomas Jefferson: A Prayer for the Nation

Day Four - James Madison: A Prayer for Fellow Citizens

Day Five - John Quincy Adams: A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Day Six - Andrew Jackson: A Prayer for Protection

Day Seven - James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, and Richard M. Nixon: Prayers for

God's Support

Day Eight - John Tyler: A Prayer of Devotion

Day Nine - James Knox Polk: A Prayer for Wisdom

Day Ten - Millard Fillmore: A Prayer during Calamity

Day Eleven - Abraham Lincoln: A Prayer for Aid

Day Twelve - Ulysses S. Grant: A Prayer for Strength

Day Thirteen - Rutherford B. Hayes: A Prayer for Safety

Day Fourteen - James A. Garfield: A Prayer for Our Leaders

Day Fifteen - Chester A. Arthur: A Prayer of Blessings

Day Sixteen - Grover Cleveland: A Prayer of Faith

Day Seventeen - William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison: Prayers for Unity

Day Eighteen - Theodore Roosevelt: A Prayer for Charity

Day Nineteen - Woodrow Wilson: A Prayer for Diligence

Day Twenty - Calvin Coolidge: A Prayer for High Ideals

Day Twenty-one - Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A Prayer in Dark Times

Day Twenty-two - Harry S. Truman: A Prayer for God's Will

Day Twenty-three - Dwight Eisenhower: A Prayer for Our Leaders

Day Twenty-four - John F. Kennedy: A Prayer of Gratitude

Day Twenty-five - Gerald Ford: A Prayer for Equality

Day Twenty-six - James Earl Carter, Jr.: A Prayer for a Meaningful Life

Day Twenty-seven - Ronald Reagan: A Prayer for Healing

Day Twenty-eight - George Herbert Walker Bush: A Prayer to Help Others

Day Twenty-nine - William J. Clinton: A Prayer for People in Public Office

Day Thirty - George - Walker Bush: A Prayer for the Departed

Day Thirty-one - George Washington: A Prayer for America

Bibliography

About the Authors

Dedications

For Steve and Julie,

Thanks for being strong in tough times.

Chip

To Darwin and Jane Vander Stelt,

Great parents and keepers of the faith.

Marie

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their thanks to Alice Crider—fact checker, typist, Starbucks delivery system, and assistant extraordinaire—for her help with this manuscript.

And to Jeremy Prys, thank you for your reading eyes, listening ears, and ready thoughts as this collection came together.

The prayers in this book have been culled from various sources, including presidential papers, the inaugural records, the White House archives, and collected speeches of the various presidents.

Introduction

Each man who has served as our nation's president has repeated the oath of office taken from Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitution: I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. George Washington added the words, So help me, God, to the end of the oath, and all other presidents have followed his example.

Leaders of many different backgrounds—noted statesmen, skilled politicians, highly educated men, honored war veterans, successful businessmen—have recited these words with their right hand resting on a Bible. Each man has carried a different worldview into the office as he assumed his duties in what has been called the loneliest job in the world—or even the glorious burden. And although there is no requirement regarding a president's personal beliefs, each man has asked for God's help to carry out his sworn duty. Each has in this way acknowledged that the awesome task is more than he can accomplish by himself.

Solomon made a similar plea when he became king: Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? God was pleased and made Solomon a great leader and a great man (1 Kings 3:9-14).

Over a thousand years later, the apostle Paul said that there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Rom. 13:1).

Perhaps this is why many of our presidents have been men of prayer—because they too believe God brought them to this position.

Chip MacGregor and Marie Prys

Day One

George Washington: A Prayer for Guidance

O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.

Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy holy spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life bless my family, friends, and kindred. Unite us all in praising and glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee, blessed Saviour, who hath taught us thus to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

From his prayer journal, Mount Vernon, an undated prayer

Your Response

As you reflect on your life, in what areas do you need guidance from God?

Life and Times

Born on February 22, 1732, to a Virginia plantation family, George Washington was groomed to be an eighteenth-century Virginia gentleman. From childhood he was keenly interested in military arts, and as a young man he demonstrated a strong aptitude for leadership. At age twenty-two, he became a lieutenant colonel in the military guard, and later that year he fought the first skirmishes of what became the French and Indian War.

In 1755, when only twenty-three, Washington was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the Virginia militia, the group responsible for defending the frontier. In January 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a young widow with two children. Within a decade, Washington had become a leader in Virginia's opposition to Great Britain's colonial policies. He was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775. Over the following six years, he led troops through intense battles in the Revolutionary War, winning a final victory on October 19, 1781.

George Washington took his oath of office as the first president of the United States on April 30,1789. During his two terms in office, the country's financial system was established, the Indian threat east of the Mississippi was greatly reduced, and treaties with Spain not only enlarged U.S. territory but removed grave political opposition. After his retirement in March 1797, Washington returned to his family home of Mount Vernon, along the Potomac River in Virginia. Known as a man of undeniable integrity, faith, and wisdom, Washington died of a combination of strep throat and bloodletting on December 14, 1799.

Interesting Facts

In the midst of the Revolutionary War, General Washington made a name for himself with his large responsibilities. At one point, a dog wandered into his headquarters at Pennibecker's Mill, near Germantown, Pennsylvania. The dog was hungry and lost, and the soldiers quickly fed him. Someone then noticed that the name of British General Howe was engraved on the dog's collar. Washington announced that the dog needed to be returned to his owner under a white flag of truce, and he was.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

President Washington was a deist, by historians' accounts. It is thought that he believed in God and saw evidence of God's greatness through the creation, yet did not believe that God communicated with man. His writings are respectful, filled with pleas for providential blessing, and demonstrate a reliance on God for direction. He kept a prayer journal.

That Washington sought to be a gentleman of high moral conduct was not surprising. He was raised on the Scriptures and attended church early on,