This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, The Good, The Bad, & The Hope We Have: A Treasury of Useful Quotations.
Benjamin Franklin believed in God, and he also believed in the power of prayer. He was eighty-one when he attended the Constitutional Convention at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787. He made a motion for the delegates to begin each day’s session with prayer, and he told them:
“In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. — Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.
“All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance?”
