At the first-annual National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, held Wednesday at the Museum of the Bible, abortion, human trafficking, homosexuality, and even the nation’s crippling debt were mentioned.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La), the House Majority Leader, read from Psalm 33.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also attended the gathering, where he prayed, too.
Abraham Hamilton, a radio show host and general counsel at the Mississippi-based American Family Association, tells AFN he attended the prayer gathering and saw pastors, lawmakers, ministry leaders, and lay people praying to the Lord.
“It was encouraging,” he says, “and a testament to me that God is still at work in our nation."
AFA, a co-sponsor of the event, is the parent organization of American Family News.
Among the numerous participants, pro-life attorney Esther Valdes Clayton prayed for God to forgive a nation “stained” with the blood of aborted children who now number 64 million.
Rosi Orozco, a Mexico-based human trafficking activist, prayed for the boys and girls who are abused and exploited in that evil trade.
One last-minute addition was Jacob Kersey, a 19-year-old Georgia police officer. After a social media about about biblical marriage got him suspended, he quit the Port Wentworth Police Department rather than compromise his faith. In his prayer, Kersey said:
Father, I pray that you raise up a multitude of men and women of character, in law enforcement, who fear You. Who respect You. Who treasure human life. Who have a good conscience and a strong code of conduct. And give them the courage to do what is right even when it's not the easy thing.
Hamilton, who opens his weekday radio show with scripture reading, prayed for forgiveness for a country that has being “silent in the face of wickedness” and has compromised its biblical morals.
The prayer gathering’s other sponsors include Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Christian Employers Alliance.
The Washington Stand, an FRC news blog, also reported on the prayer gathering.
