Prayer for America: A Call for Repentance and Alignment with Jesus
Today, Sunday, May 17, 2026, thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the "National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving." This event served as a focal point for a broader "50 days of prayer" movement announced by President Trump and the religious leaders who support him.
In Luke 18:1, Jesus tells us to “always pray and not lose heart". However, prayer is not a tool to sanitize unrighteous political agendas; it is meant to bring our hearts into alignment with the heart of God. If we call Jesus "Lord," let our prayers reflect His priorities, His commands, and His radical love for the vulnerable.
In answer to this national call to prayer, we offer this prayer for America. It is a prayer that seeks not just God’s blessing, but God’s transformation of our national character and policies.
Adoration and Thanksgiving: Jesus our North Star
Thank you, Jesus, for showing us that God is love and for giving us such clear guidance as to who our neighbor is and how to love our neighbor. You teach us that those very different from us, the outsider, the foreigner, the one from the "other" side, are our neighbors. You are explicit in Your command:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
You teach us in Matthew 25 that You appear to us in the guise of "the least of these": the immigrants, the detainees, the poor, and the hungry. We thank You for teaching us so clearly what it means to be a righteous nation: it means to treat "the least of these" in our national policy with the same care and respect we would use to receive You. Your goodness and Your calling to love are our north star.
Contrition and Supplication: A Cry for Transformation
Dear Lord, our nation and government are currently perpetrating documented abuses on those very people that You commanded us to treat as we would treat You. We are in desperate need of Your forgiveness and transformation.
Prayer for the Executive Branch
Please forgive our leaders in the executive branch. We ask that You lead these leaders to repentance for the great harm they are doing through policies that target the vulnerable. We pray for a reparation of the damage already done to families and individuals. If our current leaders refuse to align their actions with Your words, we ask that You bring us new leaders who will do Your will and prioritize justice and mercy.
“Woe to you... you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness.”
Prayer for the Legislative Branch
Please forgive our leaders in the legislative branch who have neglected to take a stand to prevent these documented abuses. We ask that You give these legislators the courage to stand against wrong, even when it is politically inconvenient. If they lack that courage, please provide us with different legislators who possess the moral backbone to protect the basic human rights of the people You love.
Prayer for the Judicial Branch
Thank you for those righteous judges who have taken a stand in spite of intimidation and attacks. We ask that all of our judges may "hold the line" as long as needed until we once again have leaders who are fulfilling Your Word in the treatment of those You love. We pray specifically for those in the legal system who are upholding the rights of the marginalized.
Prayer for Religious Leaders
Please forgive the religious leaders who have forgotten Your words and have led their followers to vote into power a government that is so far removed from Your will. We ask that You stop these leaders in their tracks, even supernaturally, as You stopped Balaam from collaborating with an evil government. Please bring these leaders to deep and sorrowful repentance, that they might influence their followers to turn our nation away from these abuses.
A Prayer for Families
We ask for Your mercy on the many families that have been separated in the recent round of detentions and deportations. Please especially protect the tens of thousands of children who have been separated from their parents. We ask for Your protection over them physically, but also psychologically, from the devastating effects of losing a parent.
Grant that judges all the way to the Supreme Court would enforce the laws, due process, and humane treatment inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document signed by our nation that aligns with your Words in terms of defining how we treat every human being, thereby making us more of a Christian nation to the extent that we abide by its principles.
Prayer for the Detained and Deported
Help those who are in detention to not lose heart, even in the face of terrible mistreatment.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Empower their advocates to succeed in obtaining due process and humane treatment for those in custody. We pray for those who have been returned to countries where they are in grave danger. Surround them with Your angels. For those sent to countries that have nothing to do with them, we ask that You would grant them a way to a safe haven and settle them in a place where they can feel at home.
Prayer for the Poor, Hungry, and Sick
We also ask for Your mercy for the children and families around the world who have been impacted by sudden cuts to international aid.
Especially comfort those parents who have lost children to malnutrition or preventable diseases due to these policy shifts. Please grant that our leaders would quickly realize the magnitude of this mistake and begin to undo the damage.
Prayer for Guidance and Courage
Please show each of us our personal responsibilities and roles in undoing these terrible evils. Grant that we would not turn a blind eye to the suffering around us. Grant that we would care enough to seek out the truth, even when the truth is uncomfortable.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Help us to find and support media sources that are credible and fact-grounded. Give us courage, even when following Your words may cause us to lose status, relationships, or worse. Help us to trust You: to believe that following You is always worth it, no matter the cost.