Benjamin Franklin, one of the most influential of our founding fathers, was one of only three signers of the Declaration of Independence who was not a member of a Christian church. He was one of the least religious of our nation’s founders. But as the years went on, his views changed. In Franklin’s autobiography, he reveals admiration for evangelist George Whitefield, who clearly had an impact on his life.

In May 1787, delegates from each state came to Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, the document under which the government had functioned during the revolution. This meeting resulted in an entirely new document—the United States Constitution, which is why that Philadelphia gathering is referred to as the Constitutional Convention.

James Madison kept meticulous notes of the convention’s events and debates and recorded word for word a stirring speech by the 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin, who addressed George Washington, president of the Convention:

“I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ …I therefore beg leave to move—that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”