George Washington's remarkable prayer for America still resonates 250 years later

It is the quintessential imagery of a desperate man, drained of all earthly strength and power, who's come to the end of his own knowledge and wisdom. He takes a knee in humbleness to God.

This is the portrait of then-General George Washington at Valley Forge, praying for guidance when the fight for America's independence seemed lost.  

The image is a snapshot of "a man carrying a burden that feels too heavy to bear - and the quiet place he goes when everything is on the line." It takes place during the brutal winter of 1777-1778. 

America's founders had already declared a break from Great Britain's rule on July 4, 1776. 

Now, the "fragile army" of colonists needs to fight to secure it. Washington is their leader. But America at this juncture is more a dream than solid reality.  

Campo told Fox News, "While other influences aided in the founding principles of our nation, nothing - and there's not even a close second - had the influence as the power of scripture."

He was shot at by an expert marksman and survived. In a letter to his younger brother John, the future first president wrote, "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability and expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side."

Carson says, "He realized that God had saved him for a reason. And years later, he was in the same area... before he became president… and one of the Indian chiefs who had been involved in the war heard about it and asked [to be brought] to where Washington was. When he reached Washington, he said, 'Sir, I just needed to meet you because I'm an expert marksman and I shot you 17 times and my men shot you, and pretty soon I told them to stop wasting their bullets, because this is a man who's protected by the great spirit above. And I just wanted to see you before I died, knowing that you would become the father of a great nation.'"

So Washington did what he knew was demanded by Scripture: to "pray without ceasing." And to know these words of Scripture: "If my people, who are called by my name would humble themselves … I will come and heal their land."

He famously said, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

If America were to survive and become something of a global beacon on a hill, for the good of the world, it had to survive its own internal conflicts. It must live in truth "e pluribus unum" - out of many, one.

Today, we sometimes take prayer for granted, even mock its worth. Thoughts and prayers get downgraded to mere words with no action. But prayer has power. 

That is why the churches call men and women who take to their knees as prayer warriors.

This Fourth of July, as we celebrate America's 250th, we should also realize that power is still available to us.