If ever a picture is worth a thousand words, it is the painting of George Washington kneeling and praying by his white horse in the snow at Valley Forge. Because of our forefathers’ prayers and sacrifice, our families enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas by warm fires, stuffing our bellies, and watching football.
In spite of the freezing winter of 1777, the divine seeds of liberty were growing in the hearts of our troops. Even while most observers agreed with John Adams’ conclusion: “The prospect is chilling on every side; gloomy; dark, melancholy, and despairing,” Washington’s faith was the Continental Army’s most powerful weapon. Washington sought guidance to overcome previous defeats, retreats, and how his men would survive the freezing winter. Our forefathers paid the price of liberty with their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors. Let us pray to the same God who guided and answered Washington’s prayers.
Imagine the dark outlook endured by soldiers, half-naked, leaving bloody footprints in the snow of 1777. The Continental Army all but beaten after September’s retreat from New York. Suffering defeat at Brandywine: 200 troops killed, 500 wounded and 400 captured. How did the troops endure the dark gloom when Philadelphia fell to the British? They were a destitute army with soaked ammunition as their only weapon. No one today suffers the hunger our soldiers endured at Valley Forge: “One soldier’s meal on Thanksgiving Day declared by Congress was a “half a gill of rice (1/4 of a standard pint, 2 oz of rice), and a tablespoon of vinegar.”
Beaten down with defeat, the count of 4,000 soldiers was incapacitated in January and February of 1778, resulting from exposure, undernourishment, and disease. Historian George Bancroft tells us that “love of country and attachment to General Washington sustained them through these unparalleled hardships, and that without his leadership, the army would have dissolved and vanished.” Tory Quaker Issac Potts, after observing the source of Washington’s power, praying in the snow, related to his wife, “Independence will be established because God in His Providence has willed it so because Washington was the only one on earth the Lord would listen to.”
Prayers were answered that spring, cheering our soldiers as France entered the war as an ally with the promise of French money and troops. The Continental Congress acknowledged this as the hand of God, declaring a National Day of Thanksgiving on May 7th following Washington’s orders issued at Valley Forge on May 5th of 1778. He proclaimed:
“It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the Universe propitiously to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally by raising up a powerful friend among the Princes of the earth, to establish our Liberty and Independence upon a lasting foundation; it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the Divine Goodness, and celebrating the event which we owe to his benign interposition.”
Yes, the political climate of our day is gloomy as globalists move to control our lives. Read Psalms 2, where David tells us that “the Lord laughs at the Kings of the earth and the rulers who counsel together against Him.” Pray that our people once again will rise up in a thundering appeal to the same God our fathers relied on for divine protection. Who was, who is, and who will always be, “The great I Am.” Just as at Valley Forge, prayer was the Continental Army’s greatest asset. Today, it still remains our most powerful weapon.
