Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Includes Prayer in ‘Every’ Decision
Many Christians are praying for military members in the Middle East and elsewhere, and top leaders are among them. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recently said prayer is part of every decision the Trump administration makes when it comes to foreign policy.
“My prayer for them is that I do pray for them,” he said of the troops. “My wife prays for them. Our family prays for them. Our cabinet prays for them. None of this is done on a whim.”
Hegseth also said he seeks God’s guidance as he makes critical decisions in a fast-moving situation.
“I know we think about them with every decision that we make and every recommendation that we make to the president of the United States,” he said. “Those recommendations are made prayerfully, and when I pray every day for them and for this mission, I pray simply for the biblical wisdom to seek what is right and the courage to do it. It’s going to take courage to follow through on this. There’s going to be a lot of noise, and we pray for that, and we hope all of you do, too.”
In announcing Operation Epic Fury, President Donald Trump also asked God to watch over members of the armed forces.
“We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran,” he said. “We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way, and we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.”
Response to war
Some Christians are coming out against the war effort, which is meant to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat and topple its radicalized Islamic regime. Shane Claiborne, a self-described liberal “activist,” condemned the US action. “Violence only begets more violence,” he wrote on social media. “When we live by the sword, we die by the sword.”
However, the Rev. Franklin Graham is among those who believe the action is warranted and mirrors the comments of Democrat Senator John Fetterman. Gramah encouraged his followers to pray for Trump as well as “those in our military who are risking their lives to protect America and bring freedom to the Iranian people.”
Clairborne, along with other so-called Christian pacifists, has been criticized for only protesting American military actions, using the freedoms that were ensured by US victories in previous wars, like WWII. They also point out he’s been silent on the death of Iranian democracy protesters at the hands of the Iranian military, or the genocide committed by communist authorities against the minority Chinese Uyghurs.
–Dwight Widaman
