No, this isn’t the daily political column.  But today we celebrate the birthday of our first president, George Washington.  From our earliest days in school we learned about Washington, recognizing his unique place in the history of our country.

I’d like to share a quote attributed to George Washington.  “It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors.”  Yes, they are good words to live by for any generation.

I thought about the verbs he chose – acknowledge, obey, be grateful, implore.

It reminded me of an outline for prayer, called ACTS.  This suggested form of prayer teaches us to: A – adore, C – confess, T – thank, and then S – seek his help for ourselves and others.  To me, the two sound so very much alike.  First, we ADORE our God, we acknowledge his Almighty providence.  Then we CONFESS, we’ve tried to obey his will and we have failed many times.  We THANK our God; we are grateful for his benefits.  And finally, we SEEK his help, we humbly implore his protection and favors.

You can think of these as the words of a founding father or as a suggested model for prayer, it really doesn’t matter.  Our loving Father is not particular about the words we speak.  He just wants us to pray, to stay in continual communication with him.   His unconditional love and listening ear are there for you – anytime, anyplace.

Judy