The tradition of opening government functions in prayer dates to the Republic’s beginning. A chaplain was first appointed in 1774 to open both the Senate and House in prayer.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower began his first full cabinet meeting on January 12, 1953, with a prayer.
On Wednesday, President Trump invited Scott Turner, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to open the first cabinet meeting of his second administration in prayer.
It was a powerful prayer.
A former pastor of the great Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, Secretary Turner was also a nine-season player in the National Football League. Before joining the new administration, Turner worked with a firm committed to developing multi-family housing. He also served as a representative in the Texas State Legislature.
This is the text of his prayer:
Father, we thank you for this awesome privilege to be in your presence. We thank you you’ve allowed us to see this day. The Bible says your mercies are new every morning, and Father God we give you the glory and honor. Thank you, God, for President Trump, for appointing us, for anointing us to do this job.
Father, we pray you’ll give the president and the vice president wisdom as they lead. Father, I pray for all my colleagues around this table and in this room.
Lord God, we pray that we would lead with a righteous clarity. Father God, as we serve the people of this country in every prospective agency, every job that we have, we would humble ourselves before you, and we would lead in a manner that you’ve called us to lead and to serve.
The Bible says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” But Father, we today honor you, and in your rightful place, Father, thank you for giving us this opportunity to restore faith in this country and be a blessing to the people of America.
And Lord God, today in our meeting, we pray that you would be glorified in our conversation.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Regarding "to restore faith in this country and be a blessing to the people of America."
President Trump has consistently put policies in place that honor Christians and the Christian faith. While not professing to be "devout," as his predecessor did, he has declared himself a "Christian." God knows his heart. We all are beginning to see his works.
Two days before the last election, the New York Times worried out loud that "Donald Trump is promising to elevate not only the policy priorities of Christian conservatives but also their ideological influence."
The Times continued:
As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Donald J. Trump’s ambitions for America’s future are almost impossible to miss. He has sworn an era of “retribution” for his enemies. Vowed to deport millions of immigrants. Fueled concerns about rising fascism.
But he is making another promise that may be overlooked, but equally transformative: He will champion his followers’ brand of Christianity across American life and government.
Publicly, the former president has avoided boasting about the main accomplishment that made him a hero to conservative Christians: ending Roe v. Wade. And he has distanced himself from Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a Trump presidency.
Instead, his support for “my beautiful Christians,” as he calls them, leans heavily into their fears about losing power in a secularizing and pluralist country — where a majority of women support Vice President Kamala Harris.
In his final campaign events with conservative Christian activists and politicians, Mr. Trump is promising to elevate not only their policy priorities but also their ideological influence. He says he will affirm that God made only two genders, male and female. He will create a federal task force to fight anti-Christian bias. And he will give enhanced access to conservative Christian leaders, if they elect him.
“It will be directly into the Oval Office — and me,” Mr. Trump told pastors in Georgia. “We have to save religion in this country.”
His vision of emboldened Christian power stands in stark contrast to the pluralist and feminist vision of Ms. Harris.
The Times is right. His vision starkly contrasts with Ms. Harris's pluralist and feminist vision.
America resoundingly rejected her and her pluralist and feminist vision.
PBS reported last year before the election: "NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump promised to use a second term in the White House to defend Christian values and even suggested he’d shield the faith’s central iconography, warning a convention of religious broadcasters on Thursday night that the left wants “to tear down crosses.”
“Remember, every communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-opt them and control them,” Trump told hundreds of cheering attendees at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Nashville. “And, in America, the radical left is trying to do both.”
“They want to tear down crosses where they can and cover them up with social justice flags,” Trump added. “But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you.”
Trump’s comments reflect his embrace of Christian nationalism, a belief that is powerful among conservative evangelicals who say the founders of the U.S. intended the country to be a Christian nation. Some adherents believe the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, advocate Christian values, or stop enforcing the separation of church and state.
Troy Miller, the president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, told PBS, "When he came onto the scene, people were skeptical. But I think, as they’ve learned more and listened to Donald Trump speak, the one thing I hear all the time from people … is that they really feel like Donald Trump understands them and that’s the biggest connection that people make is, ‘This is a guy in politics who gets us, who understands us, who doesn’t talk like he’s an elitist and talk down to us.'”
I believe Trump has, so far, lived up to his commitments. And that's the problem the Left is trying to grapple with as they wander blind and lost in the wilderness of cultural Marxism, still trying to push their secularist so-called "progressivism" that offers condemnations with no redemption for hurting and broken people.
Now what?
Associated Press said this prior to the presidential election: "And for many, Trump is a champion of Christianity and patriotism."
“I believe he believes in God and our military men and women, in our country, in America,” said Tammy Houston of New Lexington, Ohio.
“I put my family first, and on a larger scale, it’s America first,” said Sherrie Cotterman of Sidney, Ohio. “And I would any day of the week, take a president that openly knows he needs the strength from God over his own.”
I believe God has given America a reprieve. A time to realign ourselves with Him and His kingdom.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
I believe God is calling His people to shine in ways that show the world that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
We need to look for and pray for God to show us ways in which we can do the work of the Lord while it is still day because a time is coming when no one can work.
And we must shine, shine, shine.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.