On May 1, I was honored to represent Dr. James Dobson and Mrs. Shirley Dobson at this year’s White House National Day of Prayer event.
The occasion has a rich history. In 1952, Congress passed a law directing the president to “set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year”1 as a National Day of Prayer. On May 5, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a statute designating the first Thursday of May as the annual observance of the National Day of Prayer.2 (I was Reagan’s chief domestic policy advisor at the time.)
It was fitting for President Reagan to sign that law. At the 1984 prayer breakfast, Reagan had famously warned, “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”3 Even then, this simple truth was condemned by atheist groups.
Fast forward to 1991, when our own Shirley Dobson accepted the role as chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. She immediately took the event to new heights. She honorably and ably served in the position for twenty-five years when the “baton” was then passed to Anne Graham Lotz.
So, as I sat with several hundred other attendees under a blazing sun in the White House Rose Garden for this year’s event, the “circle” was completed.
The celebration was notable for a number of reasons. President Trump didn’t just “drop by” to say hello. He delivered a noteworthy speech emphasizing our country’s need for prayer. From international threats to our pressing domestic needs, we need to turn to God more than ever.
The president arrived a little late and told us why. He had just signed tougher sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. This country is working relentlessly to develop nuclear weapons while promising to wipe Israel off the map.
I expected to remain seated in the audience as the prayer breakfast unfolded. Imagine my surprise when President Trump called me up to the stage to join him and others as he ended the afternoon by signing an executive order creating a new and much-needed Religious Liberty Commission.
The Commission is charged with developing policies and recommendations to defend religious liberty with particular focus on “parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities, and institutional autonomy.”4
President Trump announced some of the Commission’s new members, including long-time friends: former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Ben Carson (vice chair), Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel of First Liberty Institute, and Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. What a wonderful team! JDFI looks forward to working closely with them in the months ahead.
Every day the headlines give us an urgent prayer list. Our children are under siege from drugs and violence. Powerful forces are pushing abortion on demand and trans ideology all across America. Our college campuses are overrun by radical students who hate America and Israel. Communist China increases its threats against our country every day while stealing our technology. Yes, we need to pray, and we should pray without stopping.
We look forward to our continuing work with the White House and Congress to promote and defend faith, family, and freedom.
1. United States of America. (1952). Public Law 324. In Public Law [Legislation]. https://www.congress.gov/82/statute/STATUTE-66/STATUTE-66-Pg64-3.pdf.
2. U.S. Congress, Public Law 100-307, May 5, 1988, https://www.congress.gov/100/statute/STATUTE-102/STATUTE-102-Pg456.pdf
3. Remarks at an ecumenical prayer breakfast in Dallas, Texas. (n.d.). Ronald Reagan. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-ecumenical-prayer-breakfast-dallas-texas.
4. The White House. (2025a, May 1). Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump establishes the Religious Liberty Commission. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-the-religious-liberty-commission/
