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Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner delivered a stirring message at a National Day of Prayer event at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
“Prayer is very powerful because Almighty God is powerful,” he said. “And that truth has guided our great nation through mountaintops and valleys for the past 250 years.”
He continued, “Our Founding Fathers were men of faith who understood that God is the cornerstone of our Republic. And all of us [are] here because we recognize that truth as well, and we know that God’s power impacts both the lives of individuals and the destiny of our entire country. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin said, ‘The God who controls the flight of sparrows is the same God who charged the course of nations.’”
The National Day of Prayer was officially established in 1952 during the Truman administration to acknowledge the rich history of prayer and faith that runs deep in America.
In 1775, for example, before the Declaration of Independence had even been signed by America’s Founding Fathers, the First U.S. Continental Congress issued a series of spiritual proclamations related to prayer and fasting as the early colonies faced the reality of breaking with England.
One of the proclamations openly prayed for the future, hoping that “virtue and religion may revive and flourish throughout our land; And that all America may soon behold a gracious interposition of Heaven, for the redress of her many grievances, the restoration of her invaded rights, a reconciliation with the parent state, on terms constitutional and honorable to both; And that her civil and religious privileges may be secured to the latest posterity.”
Secretary Turner has been outspoken about his Christian faith while in his role at the White House, and his message on Thursday’s National Day of Prayer was a fitting one, given the troubles and trials facing America today.
“Scripture says in Proverbs that the heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps,” Turner remarked. “I’m so grateful that God establishes my steps. How about you?”
