Prayer to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the nation
Author: Lynette Kittle
Bible reading:
“Praise the Lord, everything that has breath; praise the Lord.” – Psalm 150:6
Listen or read below:
America is celebrating its 250th anniversary! What an amazing achievement and we have much to celebrate as a people and as a nation.
“As we prepare to celebrate this significant milestone in our nation’s history, President Trump called on communities of faith to pray for our country and be grateful for the gift of freedom,” the official White House website said.
Looking back more than 250 years, we see that America’s beginnings were established by men and women who believed in God and His Word, as author and historian Dr. Jerry Newcombe and Mark A. Beriles make clear in his book Thomas Jefferson and the God Who Gave Freedom.
“Jefferson and many other Founding Fathers themselves declared that natural law is God’s will and that natural law is binding on all people in every time and geographic location. All people have the general revelation of God, but they need the Bible to know it most accurately.”
The Bible inspired the first Founding Fathers to look to God as the source of true freedom. History records how the word influenced and helped establish the beginnings of the foundation of the United States of America.
Here are four ways Biblical principles influenced the founding of our nation.
1. Through the Great Awakening in America, a spiritual revival and renewal, the hearts of the people were ready to unite the 13 separate British colonies and pave the way for the founding of the United States before the Revolutionary War.
2. Through the Black Coat Regiment, a group of bold and patriotic ministers who preached freedom from the pulpit, God helped rally patriots to rise up and fight for their Biblical beliefs and inspired the colonists to desire freedom and independence from Great Britain.
3. The Declaration of Independence was written based on Christian sources, including the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775 and the writings of William Blackstone and John Locke.
4. Because of the Bible’s importance to life and daily life, public schools were started specifically to teach children how to read the Bible on their own. This was a foundational book for the masses and was the basis for the establishment of Ivy League institutions of higher education such as Harvard University, the College of William & Mary, Yale University, and Princeton University.
Celebrating America’s Biblical Heritage
America’s founders risked their lives and everything they held dear to build an entirely new form of government and nation, inspired by and based on Biblical principles.
The Founders relied on an Almighty God and a willing and faithful people who trusted Him and believed that the Bible would become a free, independent reality.
The 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States is a day to celebrate the preamble to the United States Constitution, which states:
“We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, to insure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense, to promote the general welfare, and to secure to ourselves and to our posterity the blessings of liberty, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”
Let’s pray:
Dear father,
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we honor you with gratitude. Thank you for guiding our Founding Fathers in founding America on sound Biblical principles and giving our nation a godly legacy that endures to this day.
Lord, fill our lips with praise for your great and mighty work in establishing our nation.
Strengthen America today to stay true to these fundamental Biblical truths on which our nation was founded and built.
Lead us as a people and nation to hold fast to Biblical principles and to follow Your Almighty guidance for America.
Grant our leaders and our people godly wisdom and insight to move this nation forward with a determination to remain steadfast in our loyalty and devotion to You.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen
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Photo credit: thinkstock
Lynette Kittle is married and has four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her work has been published in Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and elsewhere. She holds a master’s degree in communications from Regent University and is an associate producer at Soul Check TV.
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