Billy Zeoli met his senator, Gerald Ford in 1963. They and
their families became friends. In 1973 Jerry Ford became vice-president when
Spiro Agnew resigned. . . . Then, Richard Nixon resigned, making Gerald Ford
President of the United States.
Billy Zeoli wrote and sent a prayer to President Ford every
week. A passage of scripture accompanied each prayer. He would mail each prayer
on Friday and the envelope was waiting on the desk in the Oval Office on
Monday. This was a ministry in itself. Here’s what Gerald Ford said about them.
“In the fall of 1973, shortly after my nomination to fill
the vacancy in the office of Vice-President of the United States, there began
arriving every Monday morning at my desk a message from Billy. Each contained a
Verse from Scripture and a Prayer relating to that Verse which he had especially
written for me. He sent them under the heading of ‘God's Got a Better Idea’”
“Those weekly messages followed me into the Oval Office and
continued throughout my presidential tenure. There were 146 in all. Not only
were they profound in their meaning and judicious in their selection, I believe
they were also divinely inspired. Billy Zeoli was the instrument.”1
These prayers spoke to my heart. Whenever I found the time
to read them, I came away blessed. Yet, these were written for the President,
the leader of the free world. I have
shared this information with a friend who is our pastoral assistant at our
church. She has suggested I share some of these prayers with others at church
from time to time.
None of these prayers speak of what were current events at
that time. They speak of spiritual things; some of them go deep into the heart
of the reader. I am sure President Ford received blessings from these prayers,
as I am sure anyone reading them today would also.
I would recommend this e-book to
anyone who is a ‘prayer warrior’ or an intercessor.
The republished e-book is called "Daily Prayers for Leaders" It's the bookjacket on the left above.
The book jacket on the right is the original one from 1978.
- God’s Got A Better Idea, by Billy
Zeoli, Fleming H. Revell, Old Tappan New Jersey. © 1978 p.8
The pictures of the book covers were taken from Amazon.com.
Very interesting! I've never heard this story. We never know, do we, how God is moving and working in the lives of even our leaders.
ReplyDeleteRhonda; Yes, it is exciting to know that President Ford had a very vital relationship with a spiritual mentor. I came away from reading these feeling as though I had been with the LORD. Blessings on you and yours.
DeleteHi Cecelia! Wow, you just never know, do you. We had a President who appreciated Scripture and his faith life so much...what a gift this man was to Pres. Ford. I'm sure his head was filled with current events, so this wonderful man filled his head with spirit. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Ceil
Ceil: This relationship they had was remarkable. Billy Zeoli acted as a spirtual accountability partner to the then leader of the western world.
DeleteBlessings to you and yours.
Sounds interesting! I'd never heard of this, so I appreciate your info and insight. Have a good week! :)
ReplyDeleteKaren: Thank you for stopping by. I hdn't heard of him either. I found the book interesting in tha Billy ministered to Pesident Ford's soul. Not once did he tell the President how to take care of a national problem.
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