On praying with and for the President
Thoughts inspired by yesterday's White House prayer meeting
There was a prayer meeting at the White House yesterday. A group of marginally influential evangelical leaders gathered around the President of the United States as he sat at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and prayed for him.
So far, so good. Yet, as is always the case when religion and politics intersect, the incident has spawned controversy.
No, the left-wing progressives are not freaking out over an overt expression of public faith taking place on government property. Rather, some evangelicals who were not in attendance have voiced concern over the presence and participation of Paula White, the infamous purveyor of the “Word of Faith” prosperity gospel and President Trump’s personal “faith advisor.”
Despite the predictable howls about “misogyny” from the usual cast of left-wing critics, President Trump has populated his second administration with a number of highly capable women, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Paula White, however, is another matter. To call her a false teacher would be to take her too seriously. Better to call her simply a phony.
To understand President Trump’s affinity for such an obvious religious charlatan, you have to understand how his own faith was formed, in large part, by the teachings of a man who also influenced several Republican administrations of yesteryear.
Norman Vincent Peale, longtime pastor of New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church, where Trump attended during his younger days, rose to prominence during the 1950’s with his best-selling book, The Power of Positive Thinking, and his syndicated newspaper column. He strongly supported Dwight D. Eisenhower over Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential race, denouncing Stevenson as unfit for office because he was divorced. In 1960, he joined forces with Billy Graham to urge American Protestants to support the nominal Quaker Richard Nixon over the nominal Roman Catholic John F. Kennedy. Following his loss in that election and his subsequent failed bid for Governor of California two years later, Nixon relocated to New York and attended Marble Collegiate where he, like Trump, heard his share of Peale’s rhetorically eloquent but theologically vacuous sermons.
Paula White cannot be called a Peale protege but her happy clappy, health and wealth prosperity gospel echoes his influence. For Trump to find her appealing should not be at all surprising, considering his religious upbringing. For Christians who see Trump as an ally in their effort to restore sanity, common sense, and virtue to a culture drowning in moral dissipation, Paula White casts a long, dark shadow over that alliance. As made painfully clear at yesterday’s prayer meeting, her presence is unavoidable. No doubt, more than a few of the participants knew better than to have any association with her and, out of concern for the president’s spiritual well-being, would have liked to have shared their concerns with him. However, as Paula White is head of the White House Faith Office, any such communication would have to go through her first. Well, good luck with that.
Perhaps the larger question, especially in light of the unavoidable Ms. White, is whether or not such gatherings of religious leaders to pray in person for the nation’s chief executive are, in fact, so great a victory for “our” side. There seems to be a great deal of euphoria over the mere optics. Is a prayer for the President of the United States made more effectual or fervent simply because it also makes for a photo op with the man himself?
It is the One to whom the prayer is addressed that we owe our ultimate allegiance. A sincere prayer for our nation’s leaders will reach his ears, whether it comes from the Oval Office or the Daily Office. In that vein, I commend the following prayer for daily use:
O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world; We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that being guided by thy providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of this Nation, the Governor of this State [or Commonwealth], and to all in Authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness; and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. (FOR THE PRESIDENT AND ALL IN CIVIL AUTHORITY, BCP 2019 TLE)