As he did with his first cabinet meeting, President Trump invited Scott Turner, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to open the gathering in prayer.
The former NFL player, Secretary Turner served in the Texas State Legislature (2013-2017) and was an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.
The former church shepherd sees his life in terms of a calling rather than a career.
“All along the way, you know, I believe the Lord was preparing me,” Turner said, “I believe God is a sovereign God … I believe that from before the womb of my mother that [God] was preparing me for this moment, for this day, for such a time as this.”
In his role at HHS, Secretary Turner has vowed to “restore biological truth to the federal government.” He then added, “This means getting the government out of the way of what the Lord established from the very first day, when he created man in his own image, male and female.”
Under Secretary Turner’s watch, any federally funded shelter must offer services according to a person’s biology not their identity and imagination.
On Tuesday, in the aftermath of the horrific flash flooding in Texas, here is how the secretary prayed in the Cabinet room:
Father, we’re humbled by your grace. We’re humbled by your mercy. Lord God, we surrender to you.
Jesus, you are the great Redeemer. And Lord, we thank you. I thank you for every man and woman around this table.
Thank you for the President, Father, and his leadership. Lord God, as we think about the families in Texas, Lord God, we don’t understand. We don’t know how to explain it.
We don’t know why, but we know who. We know who to trust. Father, we thank you that you are God Almighty, that you are all-powerful.
And Lord God, we lift up the families that are mourning, that are grieving, those families that are hurting. Lord God, we pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding. And your scripture says that Jesus, you said, “I’ll give you a peace, not the peace of the world, but the peace I give.”
And we pray, God, that you would give them a peace that in the midst of tragedy, that they don’t even understand how they can be in comfort. And Lord God, we pray that as we work together as a cabinet, as a President, Vice President in this administration, Father God, that you would give us all the tools that we need, Father God, to show up and to support and help to rebuild and to restore. The Bible says in Isaiah that we are “the restorers of the breach and the repairers of the street.”
Father God, as we roll up our sleeves and pray for these people, God, we just pray right now for your favor and grace. Thank you for the first responders and those that are working on the ground right now. Lord, we pray for miracle upon miracle.
And Lord Jesus, those that are still there that are alive, Father, we pray you would help us to find them, Lord God, and bring them back to their families. We love you. We honor you.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
That a government official would pray so boldly and unapologetically in Jesus’ name inside the White House should encourage every Christian believer regardless of their party.
Lord, please hear our prayers.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
