A Prayer from Billy Graham

"You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:32).

If ever there was a gray headed, old man deserving our highest honor and greatest esteem — it is Billy Graham. He is truly beloved throughout the entire world, and rightly so. Thus, Paul Harvey did us all a huge favor when he aired the following prayer by Billy Graham during one of his broadcasts. The words are brief, yet deep and meaningful — which is usually what happens when grey-haired men and women of faith talk to God.

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today ; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"

Maybe you could help to spread this prayer by forwarding it to your friends. And maybe we all could pray it together. And maybe, just maybe — God will hear our cry from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our Land.

Maybe.