“As we prepare to celebrate two and a half centuries of freedom, I am inviting America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and for our people. From the beginning, this has always been a country sustained and strengthened by prayer.  So, as we chart our course for the next 250 years, let us rededicate ourselves to one nation under God.” -President Trump, Iowa, July 3, 2025

 

From the earliest settlers in the New World of America throughout the 250 years of the growth of this great nation, Americans have come together in prayer for their country.  Whether it was the pilgrims or the attendees at the First Continental Congress, political leaders from presidents to local officials have often called for prayer from our citizens for the good of our nation.

 

When the First Continental Congress convened in 1774  in Philadelphia to respond to British actions one of the first considerations was that their sessions should begin with prayer.  In spite of denominational differences, the opening prayer was a unifying success and the Congress established prayer as the essential opening to each session.  That precedent still holds today as opening prayers before each session of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

 

From that first Congressional prayer: Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people.

 

When the time came to write a Constitution for the United States of America, Benjamin Franklin reminded the Congress that prayer should begin their deliberations remembering  they had all observed in the revolution “ frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.” When the Constitution was completed, George Washington spoke of the “invisible hand” which brought about a system of United Government through “ tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities…”

 

In celebration and thanksgiving for 250 years of God’s providence and in petition for the next 250 years, Americans are invited on May 17 to the National Mall in Washington D.C. or in their  communities, to pray and rededicate the United States as “One Nation under God.” 

 

Read more details at https://freedom250.org/