“Almighty God, … give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow our words and actions to be governed thereby… Before all else we seek… the blessings of Almighty God… May we pursue the right – without self-righteousness… May we grow in strength – without pride in self. May we, in our dealings with all peoples of the earth, ever speak truth and serve justice.”

Such words could have been prayed from any preacher from any pulpit in the land. They could have echoed from the homes of concerned and dedicated Christians in our country. Instead, they were publicly declared before a large crowd of people from the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 1957 by President Dwight Eisenhower as the prayer of his inaugural address. Can you imagine those words being said today? Perhaps this is a picture of how our nation is changing. At President’s Day we celebrate “Honest Abe” Lincoln and George Washington “the father of our country” who could not tell a lie, but did you ever realize that we have a great heritage of other godly and moral men who have stepped into the highest office of our land? Now I recognize that may be hard to imagine given the lack of integrity and partisan pandering found in our leaders today (but this was also true in previous generations as well), but I want to take a few minutes to single out what a difference a faith-filled man with a moral compass can make in a nation.

Eisenhower was not an ostensibly Christian man. He was raised in a house where his parents seemed to be faithful in bringing him to church and his uncle was an itinerant preacher. Eisenhower would comment in his later years that “Everybody I knew went to church”, yet we don’t have record that he made a profession of faith during his youth. He became known as a war hero during World War II, serving as the supreme commander of NATO forces at D-Day in 1944. It was perhaps through the horrors of war that Ike found his faith. Writing of the D-Day invasion, Eisenhower reflected, “If there was nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an almighty and merciful God, the events of the next 24 hours did it.” One thing was clear: by the time he assumed the presidency in 1953 something had changed. His faith had become personal and he now chose to express it publicly, even if it meant jeopardizing his re-election. Shortly after his installment as president, he chose to follow the scriptural teaching of believer’s baptism. He was the only president ever to be baptized while in office.

It was Eisenhower who instituted the practice of opening all cabinet meetings with silent prayer. He began the process of desegregating schools while in office as well as doing much to advocate for world peace at a time when the cold war was heating up. In 1954, Eisenhower supported and signed the bill that added “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance and made “In God We Trust” the official motto of the United States. Even Evangelist Billy Graham acknowledged Eisenhower’s influence on the spiritual climate of the nation. He wrote to the president that “constant references to spiritual needs and faithful attendance at church have done much to help in the spiritual awakening that is taking place throughout the nation.” . In fact, church membership in the nation rose from 49 percent before his presidency to 69 percent by the time he left office.

What does this history lesson tell us? First, know that there is always hope for our country to turn back to the Lord. God control’s the affairs of ALL our leaders ( Proverbs 21:1) and He still has His people in key places to fulfill His plan. It only takes a single faith-filled leader in a key role to make a difference. Second, if we really want our nation to turn back to the Lord, then we should be taking action. Sure, we pray for God to move but we can do more. What are we doing to share the gospel? Are we working to see lives transformed by the power of redemption found in Jesus Christ? Only when we see people turning back to the Lord can we expect to see God turning His hand of blessing on us (Psalm 33:12). Finally, have you considered that God might be calling you into a position of leadership in this country? Maybe you need to run for a political office. Maybe you should take a seat on the school board. Maybe you need to be a school teacher or even just step up to a leadership role in your local church. God needs faith-filled people in leadership at ALL levels of our society. So go be inspired by the model leaders in our country’s history, but then go out with your faith and make a difference in our world today.

References:
Jerry MacGregor and Marie Prys, Prayers of our Presidents, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004).
https://www.history.com/news/eisenhower-billy-graham-religion-in-god-we-trust