Prayers of our Presidents

I have a book at home with various prayers from our presidents that I normally set out on my coffee table in July. I had originally thought to share a prayer from one of our former presidents for a devotional at a small gathering. The challenge was that some of the prayers, from presidents I admired, were very old-fashioned, and prayers from presidents I did not admire seemed sort of fake to me. I was pretty frustrated that out of the whole book I could not find one

Bonnie Piovesan

single prayer that seemed genuine and encouraging for today. Then I felt like God turned on a spotlight to highlight a few things for me.

Those prayers were all public prayers, they were not the quiet prayers of a man talking with their Heavenly Father. They were prayers of a leader as a crowd watched their every move. These prayers had been written out and every word scrutinized for any offense or any potential political hot button. The language Washington used to emulate the greatness of God probably had a lot to do with him feeling humbled at being our first president and wanting to communicate that to the crowd as well. After all, no one wants a proud first president when there could have been another, more humble man. Likewise, Lincoln’s prayers for unity when our nation was facing war or FDR as our world faced dark times calling for an end to evil. I started to see a layer of necessary political wording in these prayers. My attitude, as well, was political in how I viewed the public prayers of these men based on their political party. Then the spotlight became blindingly bright. These presidents were elected to be political figures, not pastors.

God invites all of us to prayer. Some prayers may be public such as an event or Sunday service. Some will be routine, like family dinners. Some will be desperate prayers, like those times when we are at the hospital or about to be in an accident. However, the prayers God values most highly are the quiet times with just us and Him. There is no book of these kinds of prayers written because they are often personal and not meant for the public. In a way, thank goodness, because many of us would not wish our personal moments with our Father in Heaven to be on display. I think God does not want these tender moments on display either because they are precious to Him. He calls us to those inner times of prayer so we can be honest and vulnerable with a Father who loves us. In those private moments we find the courage and resolve we need to face the public with the grace that God gives each of us.
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My beautiful coffee table book with our president’s prayers is not meant to be a devotional book. I cannot testify to the spiritual condition of each of our presidents, nor can I trust their words to be the spiritual guidance I need. They were elected for a certain task for a certain time. I have only to look to God and all of my needs will be met by Him, and thankfully He is always ready to listen to my prayers.

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Mathew 6:6 NIV)
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“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace”. (Matthew 6:6 MSG)

In His Name, Bonnie