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WASHINGTON — Faith leaders from across the country gathered at the White House Thursday to participate in the National Day of Prayer.
Among them was Utah’s Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sister Bingham joined leaders from Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish faiths in a ceremony held in the Rose Garden. Each delivered a prayer before President Donald Trump signed an executive order for a faith initiative at the White House.
Sister Bingham’s prayer focused on unity and love toward one another.
“May we become a land of 'good Samaritans,' laboring in love to lift the hands of the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the afflicted,” she said.
“Help us to find ways to understand and value one another, to work together in cooperation and selflessness, rather than seek for personal gain, to satisfy vain ambitions or to gratify pride.”
Read her entire prayerhere.
Other faith leaders included Priest Narayanachar Digalakote of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland; Lt. Col. Dawud Abdul-Aziz Agbere, chaplain for the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps; Rabbi Levi Shemtov, founder of the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington; and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Catholic archbishop of Washington.
Jane "Cissie" Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of the late Rev. Billy Graham, also offered a prayer during the ceremony.
Drawing inspiration from the late Rev. Graham, Trump told those in attendance, “'Prayer is the key that opens us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings.' …Reverend Graham’s words remind us that prayer has always been at the center of the American life, because America is a nation of believers,” he said.
Trump concluded the ceremony by signing an executive order to create a faith initiative intended to help design new policies that recognize the role of faith in families, communities and the U.S. The initiative will also help ensure that faith-based organizations have equal access to government funding, Trump said.
“Our country was founded on prayer. Our communities are sustained by prayer. And our nation will be renewed by hard work, a lot of intelligence and prayer,” the president concluded.
Hear all of the prayers by clicking on the video below. Skip ahead to the 45:56 mark.
