WASHINGTON — Lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined Christians from around the country earlier this week at the Museum of the Bible for a national day of repentance, while highlighting the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide.

Speakers at the four-hour 2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, which was hosted by the Family Research Council (FRC) on Wednesday, also urged listeners to remember the Christian heritage of the United States and to return to God as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary this year.

'Let us be found faithful'

Jim Garlow, whose organization Well Versed ministers to members of Congress, opened the event by noting that nations ought not to take God's blessings for granted. He warned that the Lord could remove His protection from the U.S. as easily as He did with the many civilizations throughout history that have been conquered and destroyed.

"We don't ever presume that something like that could ever happen to this nation," said Garlow. "And so, we live in this naive notion that the way things are, are the way things will always be, but such is not the case. And so, as we go into prayer right now, may our requests have a sense of holy urgency, a sense of holy desperation."

Echoing Garlow, Johnson later rose and briefly laid out the special influence of Christianity on the U.S., while warning that Americans could lose their cherished freedoms if they fail to remember their own history and duties before God.

Noting he was one of the original founders of the annual event that typically aligns with the National Prayer Breakfast, Johnson said it was "heavy on his heart" that the gathering should prioritize formal repentance.

"We're the most free, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation that has ever been, and the reason we are is because we're set in this foundation, our Judeo-Christian heritage, the biblical foundation of the country. It is beyond dispute," he said.

Quoting British author and statesman G.K. Chesterton's observation that "America is the only nation in the world that was founded upon a creed," Johnson noted the Declaration of Independence explicitly asserts that men are created equal by God and that their rights come not from earthly power, but from Him. He said Americans have a special opportunity this year to talk about those foundations amid its 250th anniversary.

"We cannot take this freedom for granted. Reagan said it is not inherited in the bloodstream. He said it has to be fought for, and protected, and taught and passed along to the next generation, or they will not understand it," he continued.

"They will not be able to fight for it if they don't understand what their freedom is. Chesterton was right, and we should take everybody straight to that."

Johnson went on to plead for God's "continued favor and blessing over our nation, even when we don't deserve it," and expressed gratitude that He has allowed the U.S. to be a self-governing people based upon a moral consensus that he acknowledged "has been imperiled in recent generations." He prayed for courage to "defend and restore" such a profound heritage.

"I take great comfort in the words of John Quincy Adams: 'duty is ours, results are God's.' We know the results are in your hands, but let us be found faithful. We are so grateful to be Americans. We do not take this for granted," he concluded.

'Heal this land'

Also making a brief appearance was Cruz, whose prayer reiterated America's historic relationship with God while expressing grief over its escalating destructive divisions.

"We come to you, and we seek your face. We come to you, and we ask forgiveness. We come to you, and we ask that you heal this land. Father, we come to you, and we ask that you will bring about a new day in America," he said.

"Ours is a nation that was founded by people fleeing oppression and coming to a new land, where they could seek out and worship you with all of their heart, mind and soul, without government getting in the way," he continued, citing 2 Chronicles 7:14.

"Bless our great nation, and give each of us... your spirit to live so that people may see the love of Jesus each and every day." @tedcruz

2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance pic.twitter.com/9YBkSrJ8IH

"America was founded as a shining city on a hill," he said, referring to John Winthrop's 1630 sermondescribing the Massachusetts Bay Colony. "And yet we see our nation torn apart by anger and bitterness."

"We ask that you make that anger and bitterness go away. We ask that you replace it with love," he added.

Cruz went on to thank God for His "eternal faithfulness," asking Him to "bless our great nation and give [to] each of us who is here, your Spirit to live so that people may see the love of Jesus every day."

'We have sinned and done wrong'

Individuals from each of the 50 states, most of whom were legislators, spent hours rising to the stage to pray over their states and the U.S., with Republican Minnesota state Sen. Andrew Mathews drawing noticeable applause.

Mathews, a 38-year-old pastor who has served in the Minnesota state Senate since 2017, invoked God's mercy upon his state, which has been front-and-center on the national stage in recent months amid widespread fraud allegations and backlash to federal immigration enforcement that has grown violent.

"Heavenly Father, I just want to speak the name of Jesus over Minnesota," said Mathews, who previously denounced the recent leftist invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul as symptomatic of "this age of political violence on Christians and people of faith."

"I want to speak your name over the division, the destruction, the lawlessness, the anger and even hatred that has been on display, and ask that it be replaced with the agape love of Christ, with God's healing and with the spirit of repentance and turning back to you," he continued.

Mathews, who lamented last month that his state appears not to have "anyone in charge right now," went on to plead that God would raise up godly elected leaders "who would fear you and who would seek to follow your ways."

"I pray for our churches that are now under attack in ways they never have before, and pray for the churches all across Minnesota, that they would be bold to proclaim your Word, that your Word would go forth and accomplish that which it's intended to do in families and communities and cities and all across our state," he also said.

Mathews closed by referencing the prayer in Daniel 9, where the grieving prophet pleads in sackcloth and ashes on behalf of his people who are under divine judgment in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

"We have sinned and done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules," he said, paraphrasing the chapter. "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for your own sake, O my God. We pray this in Jesus' name."

'Return to the moral truths'

FRC President Tony Perkins told The Christian Post that the biggest takeaway from the event this year was remembering the Christian heritage of the U.S. and the overwhelming influence of the faith upon the Founding Fathers. He noted that U.S. history is steeped in Christianity, and that each of the 50 state Constitutions acknowledge God.

"As we go into the 250th anniversary, it was rediscovering our biblical foundation, our Christian heritage, and not shrinking back from that," he said. "I know that there's been a lot of these allegations about Christian nationalism, which has driven people back from their faith. What we want to show, just by revealing the history of our nation and the states — that's why we prayed by state — when we look at all the state Constitutions, the preambles all recognize God."

"So our goal today was to pray into that, to acknowledge it, to encourage people to return to that understanding, that foundation, so that we might return to the moral truths that are contained in the Word of God," he added.

Perkins pushed back against the increasingly prevalent phrase "Christian nationalism" by noting that it remains a nebulous term. When asked how he would answer it, he said, "Actually, I don't, because they can't define it, and if you can't define it, I don't have to answer it. It's kind of a malleable term that just has negative connotations."

"But if it is a Christian who loves his country, that's what we're talking about. And we're going back to the founding documents. These aren't things we made up."

'Heinous crimes'

Perkins said he agreed with warnings from Pastor Andrew Brunson, a former American missionary to Turkey who now serves as special advisor for religious freedom at FRC. Since his return to the U.S. in 2018 following his dramatic, high-stakes release from a Turkish prison, Brunson has been warning that hostility is growing toward Christians in the West and will likely continue to increase.

According to a report from the watchdog group Open Doors US released last month, persecution against Christians is also expanding worldwide. A portion of FRC's event featured Christians from various nations speaking about how the church is suffering in their home countries.

Most were from parts of the world that have long been hostile to Christianity, though some of the speakers — such as Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen, who was prosecuted for a Bible tweet, or Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski, who was repeatedly jailed for keeping his church open during the COVID-19 lockdowns — were from Western nations. They warned from personal experience that anti-Christian sentiment is rising even in historically Christian places.

"That's one of the reasons that each year, we focus on the persecuted church abroad, because if we don't recognize that that's occurring, and we don't develop a compassion — and not just a passive compassion, and not just sympathy, but empathy, as the writer of Hebrews said — if we don't do that, it will be upon us," Perkins said. "I think one of the best ways to protect against that is to recognize it and stand against it abroad."

Because of the prominence, historical freedom and moral authority of the U.S. on the world stage, American Christians have a profound duty to remember the suffering of their brothers and sisters in countries where they face persecution much harsher than "losing jobs or having social media posts taken down," he said.

"We're talking about people having their heads severed, or their families getting arrested. We're talking about all kinds of heinous crimes against people because of their faith," he said. "If we won't stand against that and use the voice that we have as Christians in America to advocate for them, then who will advocate for us when it happens?"

https://www.christianpost.com/news/lawmakers-gather-for-prayer-and-repentance-in-dc-amid-divisions.html

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