America Must Pray
By Dr. Mal Couch
Public prayer, spiritual publications of poems and music, have always been a part of America, until recently. There are forces now trying to silence the Christian spiritual heritage of open and free expression to our God that made this nation great.
Each week I’ll add some historical tidbits as how Christian expression and public prayer was a vital part of our nation’s blessing. We may not fully know of the spiritual state of all the men we examine, but we do know none of them were fearful of prayers to the God of the Bible in the public setting.
If you are a pastor or Sunday school teacher, please print off these little bits of our history and share them with others.
President Benjamin Harrison
President Cleveland's immediate successor and political adversary, whom he would later defeat in 1892, was the godly Benjamin Harrison. Like Cleveland, Harrison belonged to the Presbyterian Church from his earliest days. He was active in his local church and practically grew up in prayer meetings. His mother reinforced in all her five children the need to pray throughout the day, always ending with a silent prayer. On being elected President, he issued an executive order that no government business would be done on Sundays unless an emergency arose.
When Harrison moved to the Executive Mansion, so did his father-in-law, John Scott, a Presbyterian minister, who each day at breakfast opened up the meal with prayer. Completely absorbed with his trust in the Lord, Harrison issued a record number, eight, of proclamations for national days of thanksgiving and prayer between 1889 and 1891.
As his first term was coming to an end, he was accused of using his prayer proclamations for political advantage. This was a setback to him and he refrained to do so from then on. During his reelection battle, his wife, Caroline, was fighting TB. She died just two weeks before the election. He credited prayer with keeping him afloat both spiritually and emotionally during this time of losing her and of being defeated at the polls.