THE AMAZING PRAYER THAT GAVE BIRTH TO AMERICA

The First Continental Congress opened with Bible reading and prayer on September 5, 1774, at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, PA. Fifty-six Delegates were present from all 13 colonies except Georgia. Among those present were George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry from Virginia and Samuel Adams and John Adams from Massachusetts. The delegates met to discuss how to deal with Britain’s oppressive mandates toward the colonies.

Beginning with the Stamp Act of 1765, relations between the colonists and Great Britain had steadily deteriorated as King George continued to pile on tyrannical taxes and regulations about which they had no say. With the outbreak of protests, especially in New England, George had sent six regiments of British soldiers who had locked down the city of Boston, closed its port and quartered British soldiers in people's homes without their consent.

Before beginning their discussions, the delegates agreed to open with Bible reading and prayer. Samuel Adams, a Puritan from New England, suggested they invite Rev. Jacob Duche, an Anglican minister of Philadelphia who was known as a man of deep spirituality, to come and lead them in payer.

As the elderly, grey-haired Duche stood before the Congress, he began by reading the entire 35th Psalm, which powerfully impacted everyone present. It is a prayer of David for deliverance and begins with the words, Plead my cause O LORD with those who strive against me; fight against those who fight against me. The Psalm ends with praise for God’s deliverance.

After reading the Psalm, Duche began praying for the delegates, for America, and especially for the city of Boston and its inhabitants who were under siege. As he began praying, the Anglicans, such as George Washington and Richard Henry Lee, knelt in prayer, according to their custom. The Puritans, according to their custom, sat with bowed heads and prayed. Others prayed according to their own, unique customs.

But although their outward manners differed, there was a singleness of heart and purpose as they all united in prayer for God’s assistance and intervention for America. Duche lifted his voice in prayer, saying,

O Lord, our high and mighty Father, heavenly king of kings, and Lord of Lords, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers of the earth, and reignest with power supreme over all kingdoms, empires, and governments. Look down in mercy we beseech thee on these our American states who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee they have appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support which Thou alone can give . . . Shower down upon them and the millions they represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting joy in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son and our Savior. Amen (Hyatt, America's Reawakening, 127).

This was America's founding prayer and it was recorded in the official proceedings of the Congress. John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, of the impact of the Bible reading and prayer on the delegates, saying,

Who can realize the emotions with which they turned imploringly to heaven for divine interposition and aid. It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read that day. I saw tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave pacific Quakers of Philadelphia. I must beg you to read that Psalm (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 108).

Rev. Duche was then invited to be the chaplain for the Congress and begin each session with Bible reading and prayer. He agreed and this first Congress became a place where God's word and prayer in the name of Jesus were given priority. This was the founding of America.

Sadly, these historical facts have been censored from the secularized modern versions of America’s history. It is, therefore, vital that we restore them to the American public for as Carl Sandburg said, "When a nation goes down or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from, they lost sight of what had brought them along."

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's books, America's Reawakening and 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.

THE CULTURAL FLIGHT FROM COMMON SENSE AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

 

The Philosophy Behind the Craziness
How the Church is Being Impacted
How We Must Respond

The flight from common sense in our culture is obvious. Children are being told they can choose their own gender by merely “identifying” as either a boy or a girl. Men and boys who “identify” as women insist on playing in girls and women’s sports and sharing their locker rooms and restrooms.

In this flight from common sense, children are being taught that men can get pregnant and have babies and that a woman can become a father. They are told that there are no absolute truths and things such as sex and gender are manmade social constructs imposed on society by a powerful elite.

In this flight from common sense, we have seen supposedly intelligent individuals, including university professors, struggling to define a “woman.” They struggle because in their flight from common sense, they now accept that a woman may have male genitalia.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressed the thoughts of many when she said, “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy,”

The Philosophy Behind the Madness

This blatant departure from reason and common sense is based on a recent philosophical worldview called “postmodernism.” It is called postmodernism because it has replaced modernism, which was characterized by its emphasis on reason.

The modernist rejected the Bible and religious dogma and, in their place, emphasized reason, logic and scientific inquiry as the way to discover objective truth. This led to a surge in the field of “apologetics” wherein Christian scholars offered logical and historical evidence for the Christian faith.

For the postmodernist, however, there is no objective truth to be discovered. All truth is subjective and relative. Truth is not something to be discovered; it is something to be created. Since there is no God and no objective truth or reality, “I” am free to create my own truth and my own reality. 

This means that postmodernism is very ego and “I” centered. Since all truth is subjective, what really matters is how it makes me feel. This means that I am free to choose the truth that feels right for me,  and the world must accommodate my choice regardless of how irrational and nonsensical it may be. For the postmodernist, truth is rooted in feeling and emotion, not reason and common sense.

This is why students on liberal university campuses have demanded “safe spaces” where they can feel safe with their feelings and not challenged and upset with rational, logical arguments by conservative students or guest lecturers. No wonder that some critics have called them “snowflakes.”

Postmodernism is a contemporary expression of the satanic lie of Genesis 3:4-5. The serpent told Eve that they did not have to listen to God. In fact, if they would ignore God’s word and follow the good feeling they had while looking at the forbidden fruit, they would become as God, able to know (determine) good and evil for themselves.

How the Church is Being Impacted

Sadly, this postmodern worldview has seeped into the church. I recently came across on the internet a “Christian” pastor telling her congregation that there are many paths to heaven other than Jesus. She called it being “inclusive,” but it is an obvious “Christian” expression of the postmodern rejection of absolute truth. Even Jesus is relative.

Denominations such as the Presbyterian Church (USA) now ordain to the ministry  biological men who put on a dress and identify as women and biological women who identify as men. Such institutions still use Biblical words, such as redemption, faith, grace, Jesus and salvation, but those words have become infused with new meaning that reflect the ideas of the postmodern worldview.

This helps explain why the Democrat candidate for senator from Texas, James Talarico, can call himself a Christian and claim that there are six different genders.  Talarico is a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, which is a part of the above “progressive” denomination. He holds a Master of Theology from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which is also a part of the above denomination.

Google AI describes the seminary as “theologically ‘progressive’ and politically liberal.” “Progressive” is the word used to describe those today on the far left, such as AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Rasheed Tlaib and others who embrace postmodernism. Talarico has obviously been indoctrinated into a form of Christianity that is profoundly influenced  by the postmodern rejection of absolute truth. 

Let us pray for his spiritual eyes to opened to the absolute truth that is in Jesus Christ.

This rejection of reason and common sense can only lead to confusion and chaos in society. If we are going to have a structured and peaceful society, we must reject postmodernism; otherwise, we will become the sort of chaotic society described in Judges 21:25 wherein, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”

How We Must Respond

In Ephesians 4:15 Paul gives us the key for confronting the contemporary flight from reason and common sense. He exhorted the believers in Ephesus to continue speaking the truth in love. In other words, never compromise the objective truths of the Gospel but always speak those truths in love.

Paul lived this out when he went he took the Gospel to the pagan, idolatrous city of Ephesus, which was home of the massive temple dedicated to the famous mother goddess known by the Romans as Diana and by the Greeks as Artemis. There was a constant stream of visitors to Ephesus to worship at her shrine, and the culture and economy of the city were based on the temple worship of Diana.

In his approach, Paul did not go on a tirade against Diana but neither did he try to be “inclusive” and accommodate her. He focused his time and energies on proclaiming the factual, historical truths about Jesus concerning life, atoning death and glorious resurrection. He did this day after day for three years.

His message had such an impact that multitudes began forsaking the mother goddess, which resulted in the economy of the city taking a downturn. Artisans and merchants, who made and sold souvenir images of the goddess and her temple, suddenly saw their sales plummeting and they blamed it on Paul and his peaching. This led to a riot against Paul with devotees of Diana filling the 20,000-seat stadium to express their anger and fury at Paul.

When the city clerk was finally able to quiet the riotous crowd, he pointed out to them that there was no evidence that Paul had ever blasphemed their goddess so there was no basis for their fury. He suggested that if the merchants had an issue with Paul, they needed to take it to the courts. He then dismissed the crowd (Acts 19:35-40).

Following Paul’s example, we must never compromise truth to be “inclusive.” We must never accommodate unbiblical and irrational views in order to be liked and accepted by contemporary culture. But neither must we ever take an angry, combative approach toward those ensnared by this falsehood.

We must follow Paul and “speak the truth in love,” remembering that we have been entrusted with a Message that is infused with Divine power, Paul expressed this in Romans 1:16 where he said, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the author of over 30 books and in over 50 years of ministry has served as a Pastor, Missionary, Revivalist and Professor of Bible and Theology. His latest book, America’s Reawakening, offers historical and biblical evidence that America could be on the verge of another Great Awakening.