Twenty-five years ago I was invited to say the opening prayer at the opening session of the Michigan Senate. I went to Lansing, and a friend [thank you Senator R.R.!] escorted me to the platform, where I took my seat, facing the senators.
I was introduced. I stepped up to the podium, and prayed.
I had spent time praying about how I would pray before the Michigan Senate. I felt the Spirit tell me, "Study how Billy Graham prayed when opening political events." I found the famous prayer he prayed in 1969, at the inauguration of Richard Nixon.
Here it is.
“Our Father and our God, You have said,
‘Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord.’
We recognize on this historic occasion that we are ‘a nation under God.’
We thank You for this torch of faith handed to us by our forefathers. ...
You have warned us in the Scriptures, ‘If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?’ …
Too long we have neglected Your word and ignored Your laws. …
We have sown to the wind and are now reaping
a whirlwind of crime, division, and rebellion.
And now, with the wages of our sins staring us in the face,
we remember Your words,
‘If my people
who are called by my Name
shall humble themselves and pray
and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’”
Beautiful! In this prayer you have humility before the Lord, confession of sin, a call for repentance, and the fact of God’s forgiveness as we do these things.
These are
gospel ideas.
Billy prayed the gospel over all the people at that gathering.
All the people? Here's what Billy said about this.
"Over the years, I have tried to avoid getting involved in partisan politics — and on those few occasions when I may have stepped over the line (at least in some people’s view), I regretted it later. As an evangelist, my calling has been to preach the Gospel to as many people as possible, and I have always wanted to avoid putting up any unnecessary barriers." (From HERE.)
Barriers... to what? To the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel was everything to Graham. You see it in his preaching and in his prayers.
For followers of Jesus, the gospel is foundational. We are to view earth, through the lens of heaven, rather than the reverse.
I am certain Billy's example affected his son, Franklin Graham. Here's a quote from Franklin.
"The
Bible tells us to pray for those who are in authority. It has nothing to do
with whether you agree with them. It has nothing to do with whether you voted
for them.
We’re
told to pray. And if the church prays, God will hear our prayers.”
Billy Graham, to me, prayed the gospel over people. He rose above political arguing and lifted up Jesus as THE ANSWER to all of humanity’s problems.
Was this a wise strategy? The answer to that question is found in the influence God gave him.
He preached the gospel to 215 million people across more than 400 crusades, rallies, and simulcasts in 185 countries and territories.
An estimated 2.2 billion people heard him preach either in person
or through radio and television broadcasts.
Approximately 2.2 million to 3.2 million made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as their savior during his live crusade meetings.
When I stood before the Michigan Senate at the Capitol building in Lansing, I gave the best that I had. I prayed the gospel over the men and women leaders of our state. What an honor and privilege to do that!
(For how to pray for government leaders, see this from the Billy Graham Association.)
