Prayer - George Washington

George Washington gratefully credited God with preserving the American army through the trials of the devastating winter.  Deep thanks, he wrote, are "due to the great Author of all the care and good that have been extended in relieving us in difficulties and distress."  Washington had pled repeatedly with that "great Author," seeking relief for his suffering men.  Those prayers at Valley Forge have almost been given the status of legend.  Yet, the General really did pray during that dark winter.  According to the record, two eyewitnesses (General Henry Knox and the man with whom Washington quartered with at Valley Forge, Isaac Potts) tell of the General retiring to a quiet grove where he could be alone to seek the help of God.  But this man of great faith was not motivated to pray at Valley Forge simply because of the horrors of that winter.  Washington prayed at Valley Forge in large part because it was his habit to pray.  Quoting his grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, "throughout the war, as it was understood in his military family, he gave a part of every day to private prayer and devotion."  He prayed from the time of his youth and he continued that practice throughout his life.  His prayers then were but one strand in a lifetime of devotion.