How Local History And Public Prayer Can Renew America - with David Kubal

A Bronze Star for writing a prayer sounds like a punchline, but it’s tied to one of the most gripping faith and American history stories we’ve ever told. We start with a behind-the-scenes recap from Washington, DC, then walk straight into the General Patton prayer card account during the Battle of the Bulge: 250,000 soldiers urged to pray for weather, commanders stunned by “miraculous” clear skies, and a chaplain publicly honored because the prayer was answered. Whether you love military history, leadership lessons, or stories where faith collides with real-world stakes, this one will stay with you.

Then we’re joined by Dave Kubal from Intercessors for America (IFAPray.org), and the conversation shifts from national moments to local mission. Dave explains how they’re helping believers research the spiritual heritage of their own county, with evidence that God has moved in every county across America. We talk about the wave of 500+ grassroots events already happening and why the 250th anniversary is the perfect catalyst for community rededication, public prayer, and a deeper kind of patriotism that doesn’t stop at fireworks.

We also dig into the founding era record that many people never hear: government leaders repeatedly issued formal prayer proclamations, often with serious theological depth. That history raises a simple challenge for our generation: if earlier Americans marked key moments with humility and prayer, what would it look like for families, churches, counties, and states to do that again right now? If you’ve been looking for something concrete you can do, this gives you a next step. Subscribe, share this with a friend who cares about faith and culture, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. This is the WallBuilders Show with David Barton, Tim Barton and I'm Rick Green. Appreciate you joining us. Check out our websites, wallbuilders.show for the radio program and wallbuilders.com for everything else. And of course, still a lot of 250th activities going on and will be for the next year, just been a phenomenal year, lots of patriotism restored in the country. And there's been so many events. We haven't had a chance to cover a lot of the things that have been happening. We've got a lot of great partners that we haven't had time to get on the program yet. So today we're gonna catch up with Dave Cabal from Intercessors for America. And we're going to talk about what they've been doing. And Tim, actually you got to do an event with them in DC. I think it was, was it part of the State Fair thing? What was it y'all did together? 

Tim Barton [00:00:50] Yes, we were on the Freedom Stage, which was a stage in front of the Capitol building. So at one end of the State Fair is the main stage that's in front of the Washington Monument and then the other end of the State Fair, the Freedom stages in front of the U.S. Capitol building. And yes, Dave and I were on stage together. I think it was like a hundred and eight, a hundred and ten hundred, a hundred and twelve degrees with a heat index sun was cooking us. It was so hot. We had a great time. There was actually a really bonding moment for us because we were both sweating profusely and he pulled out a washcloth that I think he had borrowed from the hotel and he said, do you need a sweat rag? I said, sure. And I wiped my face and he wiped his face. And so we shared a sweat rag on the Freedom Stage, which was so bizarre. But yes, it was super fun to hang out with Dave and get to tell some of the stories. I was telling some of faith stories. He was telling, um, some prayer stories and it was really fun that we got to overlap. He was telling, Dad, as an example about General Patton and the prayer card and how prayer changed things with the Battle of the Bulge, with changing the weather, helping bring the victory. And I was able to help fill in a few of the gaps and details that General James O'Neill, chaplain who wrote that prayer for General Patton. Patton later gave him a Bronze Star for writing a really good prayer and ultimately, because the prayer was answered. But yeah, really fun and getting to share a stage with Dave and tell stories together 

Rick Green [00:02:22] Now wait a minute guys, I have not heard that part of the story. I've, I've enjoyed David telling the Patton story and arguing with Jesus and all that. I had no idea he awarded somebody a bronze star for writing a prayer. I got to hear this. 

David Barton [00:02:34] Yeah, after it was all over and done with. Now, another side to this, Rick, have you seen the painting that was done based on Patton when he got to Luxembourg at the start of the Battle of the Bulge? 

Rick Green [00:02:47] I saw it when you were giving a presentation. I think you put it on the screen. 

David Barton [00:02:51] Okay, so back up a little bit. You've had all this trouble with Patton. He can't get his planes in the air because the weather's so bad. He keeps telling the weather guys, this is not good. They say, hey, this was the way it is every year in Europe. This is going to happen for four to six weeks. There's nothing we can do about it. And he is so ticked. He calls in the chaplain, a chaplain James O'Neill and says, okay, what, what kind of prayer you got for weather? Oh, I really don't have one. We'll write one. So he ends up writing a prayer for weather. Patton looks at it and agrees to it. He agrees to sign his name on a prayer card. And he says, print 250,000 leads. I want every single soldier in the Third Army praying this prayer, get this thing printed. 

Tim Barton [00:03:29] And< Dad, also add clarity because I know there's gonna be somebody listening and they're like well that's not exactly what happened. Okay, so on the prayer card there's two sides on one side is a Christmas greeting because this was going to be distributed and they were encouraged to pray just a couple of days before Christmas. And so there was a Christmas greeting and Patton signed the Christmas greeting. And on the back side was the prayer. And the prayer is what all of the Third Army was told on a specific day, everybody start praying this prayer. And so, Patton signed this prayer card. Again, he was on one side was a, a Christmas, that's the side he's signed. And then on the other side is the prayer that they all prayed. And Dad, as you mentioned 250,000 were given out to the Third Army and they were told on a specific day, just a couple days before Christmas, everybody start praying this prayer. 

David Barton [00:04:19] So what was happening is as Patton is getting this prayer ready to go and they've got to print it and they've gotta distribute it. He gets the call from, from Eisenhower and says, hey, Courtney Hodges is now stuck over and in Luxembourg area, the battle of bulge is what we now know it. He said, Patton, you got to go get them out of there. And so Patton turns his entire army and marches up to Courtney Hodges. And as he, as he arrives there in Luxembourg, which is going to be his headquarters for the Battle of the Bulge, he's in charge of the Battle of the Bulge. They, right about the time he arrives at headquarters there, they get the prayer card done. So it's ready to distribute. Well, just about the they start distributing it. Patton goes into a church in Luxembourg, which he had done this frequently going across Europe. He'd go into the church; he would walk up to the statue of Jesus in the church because these are high churches in Europe and they have a lot of statues. And he would take his helmet off and start giving Jesus a report on what's been happening in the last few days. Hey, here's where we're gonna be next week, need your help here. And so he would brief Jesus like Jesus was Eisenhower, like Commander in Chief. And so when he got to Luxembourg, he went in and his discussion with Jesus was so different there that his officers wrote down what he said and did. And so, this was all published right after the war. And he was really ticked at Jesus. He said, look, I've had bad weather for several days and I can't get my planes in the air. We can't beat the Germans. If I can get my plans up, whose side are you on? They say it gets really ticked at Jesus. And it actually ends up cussing as part of his, his discussion with Jesus. So, he is just ticked, he's a military guy and he's going, and he told Jesus, he said, look, if you'll just give me four days of clear weather, I'll send you more Germans than your bookkeepers in heaven can keep up with. And so that was his deal as he left. And right, right. When he did that is when they were passing out that prayer card at about the same day. And so we actually have the records of the after-action report of the Third Army, Patton's army, and the weather reporters all use the same terms, says it is miraculous. And they got not four days, but they got six days of clear weather. They use the word miracle in every day. The weather forecast was not for clear skies; the weather forecast is for bad weather. They said this is miraculous, he got his planes in the air for those six days, that turned the Battle of the Bulge. That's why we ended up winning that. It's the most lethal battle against Americans of any battle in that war. But it ends up being won because of those prayer cards. And so, as they're leaving the area, Patton calls, he tells his chief, he says, I want that chaplain getting the Bronze Star. That prayer, he got answered, I want him getting the Bronze Star. And so, he called in O'Neill and he took his riding crop. People have seen Patton with that riding crop, it took that riding crop and whacked him on the side of the helmet with that riding crop and said, good job chaplain, gave him the Bronze Star. So that was, that was the kind of story that goes with the Bronze Star and getting the prayer answered. 

Rick Green [00:07:13] I have never even heard of getting a Bronze Star for writing a prayer. That is that's amazing! We need more Patton stories, and we probably need more Pattons as well 

Tim Barton [00:07:25] Well, and one of the things too that like when Dave Kubal and I were talking on the stage, one of things that, you know, Dave points out is that had it not been for God answering prayers, and we can go all throughout American history, America doesn't become a nation. And so I say this because Patton probably doesn't give him a Bronze Star for writing the prayer if the prayer is not answered. But because God answered the prayer, then he says, well, OK, we got to credit this guy somehow. And when you get a Bronze Star for writing a prayer that God answered and that's an award you get in World War II, that is astounding that he got that. And that's part of the prayer story that Dave and I were able to share on the Freedom Stage at the State Fair 250 Washington, D.C.. So it was super fun to tell part of that story. 

Rick Green [00:08:17] That's awesome. Well, Dave Kubal will be with us when we come back from the break. Stay with us. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:09:29] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Great to have Dave Kubal back with us from Intercessors for America. Hey brother, I know you've been so busy. We've been trying to do this for months, but all the 250th events. You had Tim out recently up there had some great DC events. Just wanted to give kind of a recap. Thanks for coming on, man. 

David Kubal [00:09:46] To be with you as always. Love what you do, love what WallBuilders does. Rick, you're a hero of mine, as you know. Great to be you with you today. Yeah, hey, 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in the history of mankind. It's been tremendous. God actually put in our heart a little over a year ago, the thought that could we figure out what God has done in every county across America. And so we built this advanced research tool, we call AI, advanced research tool, and we gave the opportunity for every believer in America to go onto our website. And the research tool will research the history, the spiritual heritage of their area. And Rick, guess what? Guess what Rick! 

Rick Green [00:10:37] There was something I bet there was something. 

David Kubal [00:10:39] We have physical evidence that God has moved in every county in America. 

Rick Green [00:10:45] Oh my goodness. 

David Kubal [00:10:46] It is absolutely amazing. Yeah. So our...

Rick Green [00:10:49] You're doing what you're doing. What needed to be done. Cause most people, it's just fireworks and a little party or whatever. And you guys are going deep. You're saying, Hey man, there's so much history here. So much, just God inspired that, you know, what are they, that golden thread, that, that theme throughout the history, but you took it way beyond just the Founding Fathers or Jamestown or any of that and said, Hey, every piece of ground in this country has some incredible godly American heritage. 

David Kubal [00:11:14] It absolutely doesn't. Rick, you're exactly right. We wanted to celebrate the Fourth and eat hot dogs and watch the fireworks and stuff, but we really want to see the next generation and generations to come to experience the freedoms that we have in America and experience the spiritual blessing from God that we have and so for people to rededicate their area, utilizing the spiritual heritage that they know of, that they learned of because of our website is amazing. We've had over 500 local grassroots events, Rick, over 500. 

Rick Green [00:11:50] Wow. Wow. You got, and just for our listeners, they may be thinking, well, okay. July 4th past you and Chris are like, you know, David and Tim and me, we've all been saying, no, no, no, July 4th is kind of the beginning. We got a whole year here on the 250th. So for all those people that may have just be hearing about how they can do something in their local county, they don't have to think they miss the boat here. We've got a lot of, a lot a great time here and a lot of great opportunities. So what can they do? What's the best way for them to be wanted and you'll add to those 500? 

David Kubal [00:12:18] Well, they can go to our website, go to Google Intercessors for America, it's ifapray.org, and you can see on there where you can research the spiritual heritage of your area. Rick, once again, you hit it on the head. I mean, July 4th was definitely a highlight, but the search continues and the opportunity continues, and we can take these key moments. I know I'm speaking at a conference in, let's see, it's Denver. In a couple of weeks and actually we're going to rededicate Colorado to the Lord on the 150th anniversary, which happens to be August 1st. So yeah, the opportunities out there are still abound and if there's a special moment in your state's history, you should do this. 

Rick Green [00:13:09] Yeah, and then let's just pause for a second and tell Colorado all our listeners in Colorado. So this is August 1st So that's only what about a week away we are two weeks I guess two weeks away and you'll be where will y'all be is this at the Capitol or where y’all doing the event? 

David Kubal [00:13:21] Actually, the event is the Western Conservative Summit and-. 

Rick Green [00:13:25] Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, good. 

David Kubal [00:13:27] Yeah. So I actually don't even know where it is, but on Saturday morning, the very first thing that the organizers wanted to do was to rededicate Colorado to the Lord. And so I'll be participating and helping be a part of local Coloradans too. 

Rick Green [00:13:47] How important, Dave, is, I mean, you know, you've been doing this a long time. This, the, the May 17th event, the Rededication of the Nation, these state events, having that, you, know, special moment where you really do take time to officially rededicate to the Lord, do actual, actual public prayer together. How important is that to turning the country around and having a chance to have, you now, America continue to be as blessed as it's been? 

David Kubal [00:14:12]  Well, you know, rededication events are so impactful. And of course, Rick, you and I are so grateful and all your listeners are so thankful for President Trump and his leadership to rededicate the nation to the Lord on this 250th anniversary. Number one, it brings us together in unity and it helps us to reflect upon the incredible heritage that we have. But not only that, it helps us to focus forward also that… We together come together in unity saying, God, thank you for what you have done. Would you do it again? And we have an opportunity to work together. And of course, Rick, we unlock spiritual blessings that are, are hard to imagine when we humbly come before God and say, God we humbling come before You and would you... And we rededicate this nation to the Lord. So many different positive things happen, Rick. 

Rick Green [00:15:06] You've, of course you've taught this for forever, but I was just having a conversation with somebody last night about the if then of that verse and how it is if we do these things, if we humble ourselves and pray, if we turn from our wicked ways, then he will heal our land. Do you see some of the if happening in our country right now? 

David Kubal [00:15:23] Oh yeah, absolutely. And the rededication and all the events that are going on have been really encouraging. But Rick, we get to travel and speak and we get to be with people and you see it, I see it, the Bartons see it that there is a conservative movement, a Christian conservative movement going on across this nation that is so deep. The sentiment, the values go so deep within the hearts that resonate with Christian, biblical conservative values that I believe that the future is very bright for the United States. And there is these people, we're just looking for something to do. And so I really believe that this 250th anniversary, rededicating this nation to the Lord will unlock visions and dreams in people's hearts that they then will execute. 

Rick Green [00:16:32] Amen, amen. There's something about ceremony and you know having that kind of moment where you spike it and your memory Of course, God tells us to right remember the former days. There's all these times where they pile up the rocks or whatever it might be. 

David Kubal [00:16:42] Yeah

Rick Green [00:16:43] So that's our that's out chance to do those things all across the country this year. IFApray.org and also, you know Dave just the praying for the country What about that before I let you go just a challenging people to spend time in prayer that we can make the most of this moment that we really do make it count 

David Kubal [00:17:01] Yeah, well, the verse in Psalm 33, blessed is a nation whose God is the Lord, and when we reach out to Him, He brings His blessings to us. You know, Rick, I've been leading a prayer ministry now for 17, 18 years, whatever it is, and I still don't understand prayer to be honest with you. Some things God does because He's sovereign, some things He does in us and through us, and some things He will only do through prayer. And it's a mystery, and it's an unknown mystery, but the truth is that God will only do some things through prayer. And so, we've got to ask Him to move in this day and to help us bring this nation into His destiny that He has for us. 

Rick Green [00:17:46] Amen. Amen. IFApray.org folks go there to get plugged in. Everybody's looking just like Dave said earlier, we're looking for something to do, go get plugged into the IFApray.org get on the email list, get involved in these local activities that are happening and be the one to lead one. Find out what's going on in your county. Find out, what happened in your county over the last 250 years. Dave, give Kris our love. God bless y'all. Keep up the great work. Look forward to getting you back soon. 

David Kubal [00:18:11] Rick, you're the best bud. Talk soon. 

Rick Green [00:18:13] See you soon, thanks for coming on. Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barton. 

Rick Green [00:19:24] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks to Dave Kubal and all they do over at Intercessors for America. Again, go to the website, get signed up, become a part of it and join those prayers as well, and it'll be a great way for you to know some of the things to pray for the country, but also go learn about your county. I think that's really cool. Back with David and Tim now and guys, of course, we do a lot of the high level stuff on what the national history is and some state stuff when we go into states, but I just never thought about going all the way down to the county level and say, well, what did God do in this county? You know, a hundred years ago or 200 years ago. That's pretty cool. 

David Barton [00:19:54] You know, it's really significant. I think the rededication idea really needs to be driven home. You know there was a rededication event back on May 17th at DC. We were part of that. And that was based on 250 years since Congress, Continental Congress called that day of prayer leading up before the Declaration before independence. And, and it was a re-dedication time on that prayer. And so, Trump laid it out really well, and it was the national event. And that's a good thing for every single state and every single county, even every family to do. It is to rededicate itself. I love the fact that there's already been 500 events, but there's about 32,000 cities in America. So, when you have a lot more events going on, I don't remember the number of counties, but it just needs to go all over. And there's no reason why pastors can't get with civic leaders and with school boards and others and say, hey guys, as part of the 250th, the President did this 250th prayer and rededication event. We need to do something here the same way. This is part of our history, and it is a great spiritual rededication. And we've always known that being spiritually conscious is really, really significant. When you forget the Lord and you don't think about the Lord, you lose the blessings that go with that. It says in all your ways, acknowledge Him. He'll direct your path. It starts with acknowledging Him. And that's why we have the motto we have. And that why. From George Washington's first order own, they've acknowledged God, and God was the big acknowledgement they had throughout, because without Him, you don't get it done. And that's a good thing for us to remember. So, rededication, this is an awesome time for people to try to do this in their own community. Put it together yourself, get your neighbors together, have a community rededication, and get your church into the city stuff, or get your city stuff into the county stuff, or whatever. If you're part of a local political party, get the political party to do it for the county, for the state, for the region, whatever. Do these rededication events all over. 

Rick Green [00:21:52] What would be so, you know, I kind of glossed over it a few minutes ago in terms of that higher level history of the whole nation. But, you know, remind us of even in the Continental Congress, they did this multiple times, had had calls to prayer, during the Revolution they had calls for prayer. But even after that, governors and presidents and others, we used to have a really rich history of that. Then we had sort of a gap for, you know maybe 50 years, 100 years, I don't know how long the gap was. And now maybe we're getting back to it. But remind us what it was like in the Founding Era for these calls to prayer. 

Tim Barton [00:22:23] Yeah, I would say, Rick, one of the things that eluding to this, that we often lose sight of, is how significant faith and specifically prayer was in the Founding Era. One of things that we highlight is that if you look at the New England states alone, by the time you get to 1815, there were more than 1400 official government issued prayer proclamations from governors, from presidents or that had come from the Continental Congress. And when people often look at the Founding Fathers and think they were secular, they were deists, they were, right, these enlightenment rationalists, whatever kind of terminology you want to put with it. It doesn't make logical sense when you begin to examine their writings and their records and see that these were men, virtually, you can't find a Founding Father who was governor who didn't issue prayer proclamations. This was a normal standard thing for them, but most of us don't know their names, their stories. We don't the details. In fact, last week I was up in in the Redwoods in northern California, was with some of my family and friends and we had a couple days get away up there and one of the Redwood State Parks, I said, we got to go here was the Jedediah Smith State Park and as we're going up there, they're like okay so why do we go here? I was like because it's Jedediah Smith and they're, like, well who's Jedediah Smith? And I'm like, you don't know Jedediah Smith? And of course, I know that I'm that, the history nerd in that vehicle and I'm like, okay, let me let me tell you his story. And so I tell a story where he’s leading an exploration party a bear a grizzly bear comes out and attacks him, he's at the front, the bear jumps on him, puts his, the bear bites, Jedediah Smith's head. So Jedediah Smith's head is in this bear's mouth. The bear bites down essentially it like scalps him, brutal. There's no doctors in this exploration party and they're all like we don't know what to do and he's like, all right, somebody get the med kit out. Which is like basically horse hair from the tail. He's like, get like a needle, I don't know, porcupine needle, I don't know what they use, some kind of needle. And he's like all right, we just gotta sew my head back on, like hair, scalp as best you can. His ear was hanging off and he's just like, just sew it to the side of my face. I mean, I think it's gnarly. Anyway, the reason I bring up his name is not that he was this amazing tough mountain man. He is one of the guys, Jedediah Smith, Marcus Whitman, they're the ones largely responsible for the Oregon territory. But laying some of that foundation that ends up leading to states like Oregon, Washington, even parts of Idaho, like that was part of it. They become states because of these guys. Well, these were Christian missionaries more than anything else. And I say that because if people start doing a deeper look into how a lot of these states came to be the origin stories and, Rick, even as you mentioned for some of these counties, there is far more of a faith influence in most places than people have any idea about. So not only is this true for our founding of the original 13 colonies. This is actually true for places that today are deep blue liberal secular places, Washington state, Oregon, California, super secular. But if you look at their origin story, a lot of them came into existence because of the influence and direct impact of Christians, of Christianity, and of Christian missionaries in those regions. So a lot of great stuff to look at, and when we see that, it's an easier connection to go, man, we need to rededicate this thing, get it back to a place that acknowledges and honors God and hopefully obeys and follows His standards. 

David Barton [00:25:53] And those 1,400 proclamations Tim talked about, so many of them are posted on WallBuilders. And I'll tell you, they're not light. You know, when I was in elementary school, it was back when they still had prayer in schools, and we all said the lunch prayer, God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food, amen. So all the kids said that. That's not the way these proclamations are. These proclamations are heavier and more detailed than many sermons we hear today. And this is what the governor's put out, pointing people to prayer in connection with God. Which is why you see such a different atmosphere in previous generations. So rededication, a good time to rededicate is to get serious about the content that we do in our prayer proclamations, not make it something light and simple, but make it is something that's more deep and theologically sound. 

Rick Green [00:26:37] And everybody can play a role in this. Go to wallbuilders.com today to learn more. You've been listening to The WallBuilders Show.