Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham urged Americans to return to prayer Thursday, insisting the nation\u2019s problems stem from having \u201cturned our back on God.\u201d
\u201cOur country is spiraling in a heap of confusion and lies,\u201d Rev. Graham wrote to his 10 million Facebook followers.
\u201cAs a nation we have turned our back on God and His Word, and we are seeing the results. Violence, crime, and suicide are rampant,\u201d he declared.
The only solution to the nation\u2019s escalating problems is a return to God, Graham asserted, in his remembrance of the National Day of Prayer, an annual observance designated by the U.S. Congress and held on the first Thursday of May.
The National Day of Prayer was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1952 as part of the public reaction to the threats occasioned by the Korean War, mandating that each subsequent president sign a yearly proclamation urging all Americans to pray on this day.
At that time, Rev. Billy Graham \u2014 Franklin Graham\u2019s father \u2014 was a leading voice in urging the country to adopt a national day of prayer.
\u201cWhat a thrilling, glorious thing it would be to see the leaders of our country today kneeling before Almighty God in prayer,\u201d Billy Graham said.
\u201cWhat a thrill would sweep this country. What renewed hope and courage would grip the Americans at this hour of peril.\u201d
In his own remarks on the commemoration, Franklin Graham insisted that our hope \u201cisn\u2019t in politicians and programs \u2014 our hope is in God.\u201d
\u201cAs Christians, we need to be more intentional than ever about PRAYER,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Bible instructs us to make prayer a priority. Pray for our leaders \u2014 from the President, to those serving in Congress, to those in leadership at the state and local level \u2014 that God would give them wisdom, guide them, and have mercy on our nation.\u201d
Citing his father, Rev. Graham said that prayer \u201cis the Christian\u2019s greatest weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n