{"id":660,"date":"2009-01-26T03:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-26T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/01\/billy-grahams-inaugural-prayers-section-1.html"},"modified":"2009-01-26T03:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-26T03:01:00","slug":"billy-grahams-inaugural-prayers-section-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/01\/billy-grahams-inaugural-prayers-section-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Billy Graham\u2019s Inaugural Prayers, Section 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 10 of series: Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nBefore I wrap up this series on inaugural prayers, I\u2019d like to examine several prayers offered by the Rev. Billy Graham. No religious leader in our nation\u2019s history has been more involved in presidential inaugurations than Graham. He has offered several prayers, as well as sermons<\/a> at worship services associated with inaugurations.
\nSeveral of the texts of Graham\u2019s inaugural prayers have been collected in the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College, and have been made available online<\/a>. This collection includes:<\/p>\n

January 20, 1969 – Inaugural prayer for Richard Nixon<\/a>
\nJanuary 20, 1989 – Inaugural invocation for George H.W. Bush<\/a>
\nJanuary 20, 1993 – Inaugural invocation for William J. Clinton<\/a>
\nJanuary 20, 1997 – <\/strong>Inaugural prayer for William J. Clinton<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t have the resources to know if these texts are exactly what Graham said. Curiously enough, the archive text of the 1989 prayer for George H.W. Bush contains no closing, no \u201cin Jesus\u2019 name,\u201d no \u201cAmen,\u201d no \u201cPlay ball!\u201d It also appears to omit some words from the center of the prayer, because it now reads, \u201cMay we never forget that . . . .\u201d I seriously doubt that Graham actually said, \u201cdot dot dot\u201d or \u201cyada yada yada.\u201d But, at any rate, we do have four of Graham\u2019s inaugural prayers, more or less. I think it will be interesting to examine them. If you do too, keep reading. If not, come back to visit in a couple of days.
\nSome General Observations on Graham\u2019s Inaugural Prayers<\/strong>
\nFirst, there\u2019s an interesting variation in prayer length:<\/p>\n

1969 – 654 words
\n1989 – 298 words (edited)
\n1993 – 298 words
\n1997 – 525 words<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did Graham sense that Richard Nixon needed a lot more prayer than the others? And that Bill Clinton came in a close second? Both Presidents got in a heap of trouble in the terms following Graham\u2019s long prayers. Nixon resigned. Clinton was impeached. Is a long inaugural prayer a jinx? (Rick Warren\u2019s prayer for Obama was 482 words. Without the Lord\u2019s Prayer, it was 415 words. That seems to bode well for President Obama.)
\nAmong the 1775 total words that Billy Graham uttered in these four inaugural prayers, you\u2019ll find words we associate with Christianity, such as \u201clove,\u201d \u201cfaith,\u201d \u201chope,\u201d \u201cjustice,\u201d and \u201cforgive.\u201d But what I find most curious is that in all four of Graham\u2019s prayers you will not find the words \u201cJesus\u201d or \u201cChrist.\u201d<\/em> You\u2019ll find references to Jesus, even blunt requests for people to come to faith in Christ, such as \u201cHelp us this day to turn from our sins and to turn by simple faith to the One who said, \u2018Ye must be born again.\u2019\u201d (1969 prayer). But for some reason, Graham never named Jesus by name, using his English given name, \u201cJesus,\u201d or his title that has become synonymous with his name, \u201cChrist.\u201d In four prayers, no name of Jesus appears. (Rick Warren made up for this by using four names of Jesus in his one prayer!).
\nI would love to ask Billy Graham why he chose not to say the words \u201cJesus\u201d or \u201cChrist\u201d in his inaugural prayers. One could surely not accuse him of being ashamed of Jesus in public. In fact, he has probably said the name \u201cJesus\u201d to more people than any other person in history. I wonder of Graham if somehow sensed that using the literal name of Jesus would be unhelpful in some way.
\nTomorrow I\u2019ll get more into the substance of Graham\u2019s prayers. For now, I want to note one other bit of fascinating inaugural history. According to the Billy Graham Archives website<\/a>, in January, 1969, Graham spent the last night of the Lyndon Johnson presidency with the Johnson family in the White House. Then, the next day he prayed at Nixon\u2019s inauguration. Twenty four years later, he spent the last night of George H.W. Bush\u2019s presidency with the Bush family in the White House, before praying at the inauguration of William J. Clinton. This speaks volumes about the unique ministry of Billy Graham, who wasn\u2019t just a preacher who prayed in public, but a pastor to presidents from both parties. (Photo: Billy Graham [left] and three former presidents at the dedication of the Billy Graham Library in May 2007.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 10 of series: Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series Before I wrap up this series on inaugural prayers, I\u2019d like to examine several prayers offered by the Rev. Billy Graham. No religious leader in our nation\u2019s history has been more involved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-praying-in-jesuss-name"],"yoast_head":"\nBilly Graham\u2019s Inaugural Prayers, Section 1 - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}