"Back in 1777, the bleak reality of a cold, lonely, miserable Christmas set into the minds of a disappointed American Army led by a heavy hearted general named George Washington. There at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, George Washington and his forlorn, disorganized Continental Army suffered their greatest trial, a trial of endurance through a long bitter-cold winter apart from friends and family.

In early December, 1777, General William Howe had put his British troops into winter quarters in comfortable Philadelphia. Washington, meanwhile, had encamped his 10,000 troops on the snow and ice-covered slope of a low hill next to Valley Forge. What a contrast between generals: one in comfort by a large, warm fireplace and one in front of a damp, outdoor fire. But Washington learned threefold a secret early in life that stood him well during difficult times:
1) to trust in the Lord,
2) to make sacrifices, and
3) to pray.

His mind raced back to his mother's last words before he left home to serve his country. She held him, as mothers do to children no matter their age, and said, "Remember that God only is our sure trust. To Him I commend you." Then she added, "My son, neglect not the duty of secret prayer." The extensive notes on the margins of his prayer-tilled notebook indicate that Washington heeded his mother's advice.

Now among his men at Valley Forge, Washington was seeing them starve to death, eating "Johnny Cakes" of half-cooked, flour/water paste cooked on rocks by fires and observing them ill-clad, destitute of shoes and clothing. Bloody snow-worn"! paths drove him to the nearby woods to cry out to God for his mercy and grace. He prayed daily to Almighty God for his men. His prayers, like Jesus's in the Garden, were deep, loud groans with sobs of helplessness.

Washington himself wrote later, "No history now extant can furnish an instance of an Army's suffering such uncommon hardships as ours has done and bearing them with the same patience and fortitude. To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lie on, without shoes (for the want of which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet). . .and submitting without a murmur, is proof of patience and obedience, which in my opinion, can scarce be paralleled."

By February, men began to dissolve, disperse, and starve; 400 a month. . . a total of 2,500 from starvation, exposure, and diseases, like bloody dysentery, scurvy and lung infections. At the end of 1777, 2,000 soldiers simply went home because enlistments were expired. By May, 1778, only about 4,000 of the 10,000 were left.

Were Washington's prayers of no use? Not according to Isaac Potts, General Washington's temporary landlord. Potts was a Quaker and a pacifist who one day noticed Washington's horse tied to a tree in a secluded grove of trees not far from his headquarters. Hearing a voice, he approached quietly and saw the General on his knees at prayer. He stood motionless, feeling he was on "Holy Ground" until Washington finished his prayers. When Washington rode away, Mr. Potts hurriedly returned to the house to tell his wife, Sarah. He said, "If Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived � and still more shall I be deceived if God does not, through him, work out a great salvation for America." Yes, indeed, Washington at prayer to an almighty God during Christmas and on through the long, cold, winter brought about such a salvation and deliverance for us Americans.

Let's remember to avail ourselves daily in secret prayer and to seek the Lord continually, not only in difficult times, but just as importantly in times of peace, for the preservation of that peace for our children and the nation of America. Teach your children the example of General Washington this Christmas before they open their presents. Tell of the sacrifice of a Child who came to a manger, suffered, died, and rose for the salvation of a world, and of a general who loved and knew the Christ Child and followed His example.

The pity of public, secular, humanistic education is that it has labored in presenting history from a godless perspective, using mere chance, luck and unforeseen circumstances in place of divine Providence. Who do children look up to for leadership when many of our forefathers are inaccurately portrayed as deists whose relationship to God and the world's Savior, Jesus, is shallow or practically non-existent?

A good friend of ours, Marshall Foster, of the Mayflower Institute, told me once that while he was filming some footage at George Washington's former home, Mt. Vemon, and speaking about Washington's Christian convictions, a Mt. Vemon staff member interjected that Washington was not a Christian. Mr. Foster testified that the historical record proves otherwise. Faced by the written facts she stood silent. An example of the written facts are several prayers that George Washington wrote in his twenties. They filled a 24-page manuscript entitled Daily Sacrifice. Here is one of 24 pages from his book:

"Direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit.... Daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy Son, Jesus Christ."

Thank God that our forefathers were people who wrote, otherwise the history of our nation in our time would not appear as His-Story, but only a faded past, a form without body, soul and spirit.

"THE GREATEST THING anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing. The great people of earth are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray."
-S.D. GORDON, 1898 A.D."
This article quoted from the
American Heritage Ministries newsletter, Portland, Oregon, 1986, pages 1-3