America 250: The role of prayer and ‘in God we Trust’ in America’s founding and beyond

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, many also are remembering the role of prayer and the founders’ and presidents’ belief in “in God we trust.”

After surviving multiple attempts on his life, leading an army through insurmountable challenges, including near starvation, the first president of the United States called for a National Day of Prayer.

In his 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation, President George Washington said, “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor – and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

He also said that God’s providence, “which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war,” was also responsible for “the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed – for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted – for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”

President John Adams in his 1798 proclamation calling for a national fast, said “the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness cannot exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed.”

The founders and presidents also pointed to the Bible as the anchor of liberty. Pastors and their sermons were also pivotal to winning the Revolutionary War and continue to play key roles in public life today, The Center Square reported.

In 1864, Congress authorized “in God We Trust” to be printed on U.S. currency. It wouldn’t appear on all currency due to technological issues until 1966 – 174 years after the establishment of the U.S. Mint, the Library of Congress explains.

In 1931, Congress made the Star-Spangled Banner the National Anthem. In the last stanza, its author, Francis Scott Key, wrote that heaven had rescued the land and preserved the United States and the national motto must be “In God is our trust.”

Under President Dwight Eisenhower, the National Prayer Breakfast was established, a National Day of Prayer was instituted, and “In God we Trust” was made the official national motto. In 1954, “One nation under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance through another act of Congress.

The White House has published a compilation of presidential proclamations emphasizing the role of prayer in American life.

“From the birth of our nation, America has been strengthened and sustained by people of prayer. From battlefield chaplains at Valley Forge to hymns sung in slave cabins and prayers in pioneer homes, Americans have turned time and again to the ‘moral Ruler of the universe’ in times of triumph and travail,” the White House states.

The document highlights 17 examples of American founders and presidents praying to the God of the Bible. They include the Cape Henry Landing in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the embarkment of the Pilgrims who would eventually land in 1620 in what would become the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving in 1621, the first prayer prayed in Congress in 1774, and examples of calls to prayer by founding fathers and public leaders.

It also highlights General George Washington’s prayer when issuing the general orders for the Continental Army, the prayer given at the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, a Jewish blessing given for the government in honor of President Washington in 1789, and John Quincy Adams’ expressed reverence for God in his 1837 Independence Day address.

Presidential prayers offered during wartime are also highlighted. They include President Abraham Lincoln’s call for a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer on March 30, 1836, President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer on June 6, 1944, the Armed Forces Prayer Book of 1951, and prayers given during Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration and presidency after he helped lead the Allies to victory in World War II.

Other notable prayers mentioned are those offered by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, by the Apollo astronauts in 1967, evangelist Billy Graham at the 1969 presidential inauguration. and President George W. Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks 25 years ago this year.

“Far from being peripheral or incidental, these events underscore how belief in divine providence, the words of Scripture, and the practice of public prayer have shaped the character of American institutions, guided moments of national crisis, and informed the moral imagination of the American people,” the White House states. “As we celebrate 250 years of freedom, citizens of all backgrounds and beliefs have an opportunity to rededicate themselves to the principles that gave birth to this land of liberty.”