Hear the heartbeat of this man, George Washington. This was his prayer at the young age of 20 years.

“Almighty God, and most merciful Father. . . Since Thou art a God of pure eyes, and wilt be sanctified in all who draw near unto Thee, Who dost not regard the sacrifice of fools, nor hear sinners who tread in Thy courts, pardon, I beseech Thee, my sins; Remove them from Thy presence, as far as the east is from the west, and accept me for the merits of Thy Son, Jesus Christ; That when I come into Thy temple and compass Thine altar, my prayer may come before Thee as incense; and as Thou couldst hear me calling upon Thee in my prayers and give me grace to hear Thee calling on me in Thy Word, that it may be wisdom, righteousness, reconciliation and peace to the saving of my soul in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that I may hear it with reverence, receive it with meekness, mingle it with faith, and that it may accomplish in me, gracious God, the good work for which Thou hast sent it. Bless my family, kindred, friends and country; Be our God and Guide this day and forever, for his sake who lay down in the grave and rose again for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

George Washington’s father, Augustine, died when George was only 11. His mother, Mary, naturally undertook the role of both mother and father. But even before he was 11 years old, Washington’s father had taught him some very valuable lessons. He taught him at the age of four, how closely life was linked to God. By planting seeds that eventually spelled the name George Washington, the father taught, as an object lesson, the “intelligent design of the Creator” and of Providence.
That George learned this lesson well, is proved by many of his sayings and by his life continually. In 1754, he wrote, “We would have starved if Providence had not sent a trader from Ohio to our relief.” Before his attack on Boston, he said to his officers, “The success, I well know depends upon the All-Wise dispenser of events.”

In 1778, he wrote to General Nelson of Virginia, “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this that we would be worse than an infidel if we lacked faith. If we make freedom our choice, we must obtain it by the blessing of heaven on our united and vigorous efforts.”

Authentic history records several instances when Washington’s life was saved by neither chance nor human agency.
When he was over 20 years old, he went with his brother, who was dying of consumption, to Barbados. The small pox disease was then almost invariably fatal; but George having contracted small pox, recovered wonderfully in less than three weeks.

The next year, 1753, his second miraculous escape was during a trip to Venago. His Indian guide at a distance of 15 paces, fired at him, but did not hurt him. Then Washington and his companion went through the forests for days without a guide, pursued by hundreds of bloodthirsty Indians ready to torture and kill. In crossing the Allegheny River, among the cakes of drifting ice, he was thrown into the water. He saved himself by seizing a floating log, thus escaping to an island. There he stayed all night in the cold in wet clothes; but the next morning the river was frozen over and he was able to cross on foot.
School textbooks fail to include the wonderful truths about this country’s founders. Until 1934, the account of George Washington in the “Battle at Monongahela” was included in student textbooks in America. Every officer on horseback was shot down, even General Braddock was killed, with the lone exception of George Washington. Riding back and forth across the battlefield, Washington gave this account.

“But by the all-powerful dispensations of providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!”

Fifteen years later, an Indian chief gave this eyewitness testimony: 
“I am a chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the water of the great lakes and to the Blue Mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man’s blood mixed with the streams of our forests that I first beheld this chief [Washington]. I called to my young men and said, ‘Mark yon tall and daring warrior. . .Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies’. Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for you, knew not how to miss - ‘twas all in vain, a power mightier than we, shielded you. “Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. I am old and. . .something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy:
Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man pointing at Washington, and guides his destinies - he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, and who can never die in battle.”

This famous Indian warrior who was in that battle said, “Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, and after all, could not bring him to the ground!”

Did you know that on June 1, 1774, when the Colonies were seeking God’s will as to whether they should break ties with England, George Washington was at church, fasting and praying? (“America’s God and Country” Federer; “The Bullet-proof George Washington” - Barton)

The air seemed frozen with the bone-numbing cold. It was winter in Valley Forge. The soldiers could be tracked along the road of misery not by their prints in the snow, but by their bloody half-frozen feet. Misery was everywhere. Thousands of brave soldiers without the barest of necessities were suffering beyond the extreme. Could independence in this hour of desperation even be a consideration? Even the commander’s reputation was under attack. There was only one answer, only one place to go.

Isaac Potts, a Tory Quaker, gave testimony. He was there. He heard and saw and was changed. Passing through the grove, Potts suddenly heard a voice. Advancing ever so slowly, this utterance was lifted in great earnest. Approaching cautiously, friend Potts saw with his own eyes among the bower of ancient oaks none other than the Commander-in-chief of the American armies on his knees in prayer. Tears flowed down the cheeks of George Washington as, in great agony, he cried out to heaven. Isaac Potts was moved to his very core. Rushing home in much agitation, friend Potts called out for his wife, “Sarah! My dear Sarah!” Potts felt as if he had been on holy ground and his wartime persuasion had been over-turned. “Sarah, if there is anyone on this earth whom the Lord will listen to, it is George Washington. Thee knows that I always thought that the sword and the gospel were utterly inconsistent and that no man could be a soldier and a Christian at the same time...If George Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived and still more shall I be deceived if God do not, through him, work out a great salvation for America.”

Plan and estimates were complete.

Robert Morris promised him the amount, and he raised it upon his own responsibility. It has been justly remarked, that: “If it were not demonstrable by official records, posterity would hardly be made to believe that the campaign of 1781, which resulted in the capture of Cornwallis, and virtually closed the Revolutionary War, was sustained wholly on the credit of an individual merchant” America couldn’t repay him because there was no money, and yet Robert Morris never complained because he had given his word.

You see the same thing in the life of John Hart. He was a strong Christian gentleman and Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Jersey. He promised to help provide them with guidance and leadership. There are three things that were important in his life: his Savior, his family and his farm. Because of his signature on the Declaration, the British were seeking him (and the rest of the signers) to execute as traitors.

 John Hart fled his home, after which his farm was ravaged, his timber destroyed, his cattle and stock butchered for the use of the British army. He did not dare to remain two nights in the same location. After Washington’s success at the battle of Trenton, he finally returned home to find that his wife had died and his children scattered. He lost almost everything that was important to him but kept his word. John Hancock, a very wealthy individual lived in a mansion reflecting his princely fortune, one of the largest in the Province of Massachusetts. During the time the American army besieged Boston to rid it of the British, the American officers proposed the entire destruction of the city. “By the execution of such a plan, the whole fortune of Hancock would have been sacrificed. Yet he readily acceded to the measure, declaring his willingness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of his country should require it.” A man of his word, he demonstrated his integrity.

The 16 congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting throughout the revolution were not bland (for example, they acknowledge Jesus Christ, quoted Romans 14:17, and so on); however, this is not unexpected considering the prominent role that many ministers played in the revolution.

One such example is John Peter Muhlenburg. In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, l776, he preached verse by verse from Ecclesiastes 3, the passage that speaks of a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven.

Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenburg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the continental army!

He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over 300 men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenburg finished the revolution as a major-general, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint and Yorktown.

Another minister-leader in the revolution was the Rev. James Caldwell. His actions during one battle inspired a painting showing him standing with a stack of hymnbooks in his arms while engaged in the midst of a fierce battle against the British outside a battered Presbyterian church.

During the battle, the Americans had developed a serious problem: they had run out of wadding for their guns, which was just as serious as having no ammunition. Rev. Caldwell recognized the perfect solution; he ran inside the church and returned with a stack of Watts Hymnals, one of the strongest doctrinal hymnals of the Christian faith (Isaac Watts authored “O God Our Help in Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” and several other classic hymns).

Distributing the Watts Hymnals among the soldiers served two purposes: first, its pages would provide the needed wadding; second, the use of the hymnal carried a symbolic message. Rev. Caldwell took that hymnbook, the source of great doctrine and spiritual truth, raised it up in the air and shouted to the Americans, “Give’em Watts, boys!”

The spiritual emphasis manifested so often by the Americans during the revolution caused one Crown appointed British governor to write to Great Britain complaining that “If you ask an American who is his master, he’ll tell you he has none. And he has no governor but Jesus Christ.”

Letters like this, and sermons like those preached by the Reverend Peter Powers (“Jesus Christ the King”), gave rise to a motto of the American Revolution. Most of us are unaware that the American Revolution even had a motto, but most wars do (for example, World War II, “Remember Pearl Harbor!” ; the Texas war for independence “Remember the Alamo!”; and so on).
The motto of the American Revolution was directed against King George III, who capriciously and regularly violated “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” The motto was very simple and very direct: “No King but King Jesus!”

Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded. Let’s not let the purpose for which we were established be forgotten. The Founding Fathers have passed us a torch; let’s not let it go out. David Barton, Human Events 7/2/01