A Day of Prayer That Changed History

May 2000

Dear Friends,

The first National Day of Prayer of the new millennium, scheduled for May 4, will have occurred by the time most of you receive this letter. As I write in April, my wife Shirley and her NDP Task Force are busily preparing for this nationwide event that is expected to involve millions of Americans. I am grateful for this annual outpouring of prayer from those who recognize that the only hope for our country is an appeal to the Lord for His mercy and grace. He has promised to forgive our sins and heal our land if we, His people, will humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14). That is why the National Day of Prayer exists, and why we appreciate those of you who were part of it.

In a dramatic way, this year’s prayer event is linked to a moment in history that should never be forgotten. It occurred exactly 60 years ago this month, when the fate of millions of people in dozens of countries hung in the balance. That era is described in a new book by John Lukacs that I found fascinating — and deeply disturbing. It is entitled Five Days in London,1 which is must-reading for everyone interested in the Second World War and how the Lord intervened at an incredibly difficult time to accomplish His purposes. In that regard, let me share a story from the book that I believe you will find inspirational.

First, a historical perspective: In May 1940, the political and military situation in Europe was catastrophic. Seven years earlier, Adolf Hitler had gained absolute power in Germany and immediately set about rearming his bellicose nation. On September 1, 1939, he invaded Poland and then turned his fury on the nations of Western Europe. Hitler’s "Lightning War" rumbled almost unopposed through Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. The French Army, which most military experts believed would hold its own against Germany, was humiliated in only 40 days. Nearly 500,000 British and French troops were trapped in a tiny coastal enclave called Dunkirk, where they faced certain annihilation. Hitler’s armored divisions, commanded by Generals Heinz Guderian and Karl von Rundstedt, were only 15 miles away, while Hermann Goering’s air force (the Luftwaffe) bombed and strafed the hapless armies below. What a tragic moment that was in history.

It is difficult to comprehend the panic that gripped peace-loving nations at that time, especially Britain. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (who resigned in early May 1940 and was replaced by Winston Churchill) and other political leaders were staggered by the realization that this German madman and his henchmen had not only enslaved and dominated most of Europe in less than a year, but that they would be next. The Fuhrer was never closer to his ultimate victory than during those five days, May 24-28, 1940.

The loss of the British and French armies at Dunkirk would have left them naked in response to the anticipated Nazi invasion. Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax and other leaders began talking about attempting to bribe or cut a deal with Hitler.2 President Franklin Roosevelt even feared that British leaders would surrender the nation’s prized fleet in return for concessions.3 Appeasement and cowardliness were the themes of the day. If the British had surrendered without a fight, which was plausible in those bewildering days, the Nazi reign of terror could conceivably have continued for decades. Millions more Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other "undesirables" would have been gassed or shot, and 1,000 years of British history would have come to an inglorious end.

What was the United States doing at that time? It was blithely sitting on its hands and watching its friends twist in the wind. An "America First" movement, passionately articulated by Charles Lindbergh and others, lobbied to keep the U.S. out of European conflicts. Indeed, the following year, the Congress came within one vote of ending the draft, less than four months before Pearl Harbor. Franklin Roosevelt, who apparently didn’t want to provoke Hitler, even refused to grant asylum to a shipload of Jewish refugees, many of whom were sent home to be executed.4 This was one of the most shameful acts in U.S. history — when a powerful president allowed himself to be intimidated by a lawless dictator on the other side of the Atlantic. Isn’t it interesting how men and women will compromise their ethics when their self-interests are threatened? Still greater dangers were on the horizon. The Imperial Japanese Navy was preparing for a devastating attack on our fleet, and the world was about to be thrown into the bloodiest war in the history of mankind.

Here is what influential people were saying about the European situation in the latter part of May 1940:

General Sir Edmund Ironside, chief of the Imperial General Staff, confided to a colleague, "This is the end of the British Empire."5

Joseph Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Britain and father of the future president, hated Winston Churchill6 and thought that England had no chance of (or reason for) resisting Germany.7 He was an anti-Semite8 who believed that National Socialism and Fascism were bulwarks against Communism. He believed that the British Empire and British society were hopelessly antiquated.9

King Leopold III of Belgium said, "The cause of the allies is lost."10

David Lloyd George, former Prime Minister and a member of Parliament, admired Hitler and was convinced that Britain had no chance of winning the war.11 He called Hitler "the greatest living German."12

Harold Nicolson, a member of the British government, wrote his wife that they might be compelled to commit suicide.13

Stanley Bruce, High Commissioner for Australia in London, said he didn’t think Britain could continue the war after the fall of France.14

Joseph Stalin, the Russian dictator who would be locked in a four-year death-struggle with Hitler 12 months later,15 had his foreign secretary congratulate Hitler on his defeat of France.16

What were British "commoners" saying in May 1940? Most had no clear notion of the peril they faced. Here’s a partial summary of an informal poll taken at that time by the "Housewives Union." "[S]ome of the younger housewives ... have got to the stage where they would more or less welcome Hitler here. They say it couldn’t be worse, and they’d at least have their husbands back." One worker commented on the finding: "I can see that if the morale goes on the decline so steep as it is at the moment, there won’t be much resistance to him, when he does come."17 Many women, in particular, admired Hitler. For some, he had become "a secret and somewhat mystical astrological figure."18 How could they have been so naive! The greatest butcher of all time was being welcomed by wives and mothers whose sons and husbands would soon be required to risk their lives to stop him. Public opinion today, here in America, is sometimes just as ridiculous.

Winston Churchill stood firm during this frightening time, although privately he was also shaken by Britain’s circumstances. For once, even his legendary appetite for food and drink was gone.19 Still, he told the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, that England would go on alone if necessary: "We would rather go down fighting than be enslaved to Germany," he said.20 Unfortunately, Churchill didn’t yet have a firm grip on the government. Lord Halifax and the other defeatists wrestled with him for the reins of power. If they had gained control at that critical juncture, the world would look very different today. Instead of offering Churchill’s policy of "blood, sweat, toil and tears," they would have wrung their hands and whined, "Can’t we all just get along?" Hitler would have chewed them into pathetic little pieces by the end of the year.

Well, that is the predicament in which Britain and France found themselves on May 24, 1940. A half-million of their soldiers huddled hopelessly at Dunkirk, waiting for inevitable death or imprisonment. It was at that desperate moment that the churches in Britain called for a national day of prayer. It had been suggested during April, but the Archbishop of Canterbury had opposed it. He said he didn’t want the call to prayer to be misinterpreted, whatever that meant. But with the alarming deterioration of the military situation in France, he and many others decided that it was, indeed, time to pray. On May 23, numerous political leaders, newspaper editors and King George VI issued a call for a national day of prayer to be held on Sunday, May 26.21

No one could have anticipated what was to happen during those three momentous days. Just 24 hours after the call for prayer, Adolf Hitler inexplicably ordered his armies to halt, to the surprise and dismay of even his own generals.22 Two days later, on May 26, the nation gathered to pray. Church attendance skyrocketed, including a large gathering at Westminster Abbey, during which people pleaded with the Almighty to spare their husbands, sons and fathers at Dunkirk.23

Former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain wrote this in his diary: "May 26. Blackest day of all ... This was the National Day of Prayer."24 In reality, it turned out to be one of the most dramatic turning points of the war. At seven o’clock that evening, a critical order was issued to attempt a desperate evacuation of Dunkirk.25 Every tiny vessel and private craft was sent across the often treacherous waters of the English Channel with orders to rescue as many men as possible before the arrival of the Germans.

Hitler’s armies remained largely in place not only on the 24th, 25th and 26th, but, incredibly, until early June. To this day, no one knows exactly why. The Fuhrer held victory in the palm of his hand, and yet he prevented his combat troops from finishing the job. Some have speculated that Hitler didn’t want to risk unnecessary losses in a final battle. Others think Hermann Goering prevailed upon Hitler to let his Luftwaffe get the credit for destroying the British and French armies.26 As for Hitler’s own view, he said he wanted to give Churchill "a sporting chance."27 Yeah, sure. The bloody dictator never gave anyone a sporting chance. There is a more valid explanation. His armies were halted by the same God who shut the mouths of the lions during Daniel’s night of peril. Just as the Lord heard the prayers of the Israelites so long ago, I believe He was listening when hundreds of thousands of believers in the UK were praying for divine intervention.

For nine critical days, the Germans were content to shell and bomb Dunkirk from the air and from a distance. Meanwhile, large numbers of Allied soldiers were scrambling aboard the little boats and yachts. On May 29, 47,000 were rescued; on May 30, 53,000; on May 31, 68,000; on June 1, 64,000. In all, 336,000 men found their way to safety in the British Isles!28 The British leaders were jubilant — and astounded.

General Ironside wrote, "I still cannot understand how it is that the [Germans] have allowed us to get [our troops] off in this way. It is almost fantastic that we have been able to do it in the face of all the bombing and gunning."29

Alexander Cadogen, Permanent Undersecretary at the Foreign Office, called the evacuation "marvelous" and "a miracle."30

Churchill summed up the breathtaking developments with these now-historic words: "If Germany [had] defeated either [Britain or France] or both, she would give no mercy; we should be reduced to the status of vassals forever. It would be better far that the civilization of Western Europe with all of its achievements should come to a tragic but splendid end than that the two great democracies should linger on, stripped of all that made life worth living." He added these comments a few days later: "If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and care for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."31 But Britain was spared that ignoble end!

The author of Five Days in London, John Lukacs, wrote this: "[Churchill succeeded] because of his resolution and — allow me to say this — because of God’s will, of which, like every human being, [Churchill] was but an instrument. He was surely no saint, he was not a religious man, and he had many faults. Yet so it happened."32

Thank God we were all spared the nightmare of Nazi tyranny. He heard the prayers of His people, not only in Britain, but in other parts of the world, during this time of tribulation. The outcome of the war, I am convinced, hinged at one critical moment on a National Day of Prayer in the Mother Country.

One of the greatest lies of Satan is that prayer is not effective. Never believe it! He will respond to the deepest longings of your heart, too. He loves your children even more than you do, and He will help guide them past the temptations of a culture in moral decline. We’ve seen a recent example of the efficacy of prayer, when thousands of believers around the country asked God to oversee the outcome of Proposition 22 in California. Its passage (by an overwhelming 62% to 38%) defined marriage as being exclusively between one man and one woman, despite the powerful political forces that were arrayed against it.33

The battle to save our culture is not over, of course. Immediately after the dramatic victory over homosexual activists in California, would you believe the State Legislature introduced 22 anti-family bills! Sixteen of those are designed to advance the agenda of gays and lesbians. They never give up. After suffering a defeat, they simply redouble their efforts. Included among the new outrageous bills is legislation to accomplish the following:

1. Give certain parental rights to homosexual couples.
2. Require hospitals to enroll every eligible newborn into government health care programs (one of their goals is to gain access to and influence over every child).
3. Equate homosexual partnerships with marriage.
4. Provide money for those believing they are discriminated against, including homosexuals, to hire private eyes to investigate employers.
5. Make employees and employers personally liable for harassing an employee, based on their sexual orientation.
6. Create a reporting program for hate crimes and hate incidents at school, designed to counter literature from (undefined) hate groups. You can be assured that any literature opposed to the homosexual agenda will be considered to have come from a "hate group."
7. Make it a felony to encourage a minor to commit a "hate crime," as defined by activists.
8. Develop a hate crimes curriculum, and provide funds to train teachers in "tolerance" and "diversity."
9. Allocate funds to train teachers to indoctrinate students in "tolerance."
10. Establish that, regardless of funding, a "hate crimes curriculum" for kindergarten through grade 12 will be developed.
11. Add "reproductive choice or abortion rights" to the growing list of politically correct attitudes protected under the definition of "hate crimes."34

It is not difficult to see where homosexual activists and their supporters want to take us. Most of the new bills relate to children one way or the other, because they hold the keys to reordering society. To Californians and the parents in other states under siege, PLEASE FIGHT FOR YOUR KIDS. DON’T LET THEM SLIP AWAY!

Relating our present situation to the past, we have to ask whether Christian people have the courage to stand firm when the odds against us seem overwhelming. Or will we be like Lord Halifax and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, groveling and accommodating those who are plotting evil? These fearful men were not the only men who compromised under pressure, of course. The German Lutheran Church was also dancing to Hitler’s tune in 1940.35 Jews were disappearing and their synagogues burned. The murder of innocent women and children was commonplace. Yet the church offered little resistance. This is what Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote before he was hanged, naked, from a piano wire in 1945:36

I am guilty of cowardly silence at a time when I ought to have spoken. I am guilty of hypocrisy and untruthfulness in the face of force. I have been lacking in compassion and I have denied the poorest of my brethren.... We, the church, must confess that we have not proclaimed often or clearly enough our message of the one God who has revealed Himself for all times in Jesus Christ and who will tolerate no other gods beside Himself. She must confess her timidity, her evasiveness, her dangerous concessions. She has often been untrue to her office of guardianship and to her office of comfort. She was silent when she should have cried out because the blood of the innocent was crying aloud to heaven. She has failed to speak the right word in the right way at the right time. She has not resisted to the uttermost the apostasy of faith, and she has brought upon herself the guilt of the godlessness of the masses.... The church must confess that she has witnessed the lawless application of brutal force, the physical and spiritual suffering of countless innocent people, oppression, hatred, and murder, and that she has not raised her voice on behalf of the victims and has not found ways to hasten to their aid. She is guilty of the deaths of the weakest and most defenseless brothers of Jesus Christ.... The church must confess that she has desired security, peace and quiet, possessions and honor, to which she has no right.... She has not borne witness to the truth of God.... By her own silence she has rendered herself guilty because of her unwillingness to suffer for what she knows to be right.37

Although history validates the weakness of world leaders and the complicity of some Christians during the Nazi era, we must look carefully at ourselves before we criticize them too harshly. Most of us are not yet threatened by the loss of our possessions or our lives, yet we have also trembled. Thirty-nine million babies have been killed by abortionists since 1973,38 to which many of our church leaders remained passive. I agree with Bonhoeffer’s final assessment, "By her own silence, she has rendered herself guilty because of her unwillingness to suffer for what she knows is right."

May the God of our fathers help us persevere in these challenging days. I’ll close by quoting the Scripture I shared last month: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).

Thanks for reading this letter. It comes to you from my heart.

Your friend in Christ,

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
President

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