Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
A prayer movement begun by one congressman and his wife is gaining national momentum and its biggest fan is in the Oval Office.
When Tracy Bost, wife of Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), first set up a Post Office box for people in her district to send prayers to the president, she was hesitant to go back and check it fearing no one would send anything. But to her great surprise, hundreds of prayers poured in.
“That was really a blessing to me and then I knew that God was doing something bigger than I ever imagined,” Tracy is quoted as telling CBN News.
Tracy first came up with the idea when she and her husband, Mike, attended the 2017 GOP retreat in Philadelphia.
An Idea Born After Witnessing Anger and ‘Pure Ugliness’
“There was so much protest going on and so much anger and just pure ugliness,” recalled Tracy.
She wanted to do something to encourage the new commander-in-chief.
“I just kept praying, ‘God what can I do? What can I do?'” said Tracy. “The prayer card came to mind. That we could just have people in my life, friends and family members, send a little prayer of encouragement to the president.”
“To know that the Word of God is being spoken, it’s being taught, it’s being reflected on, it’s being meditated on in the White House – it’s just a huge encouragement to know that God is working and God is moving in the White House…”
Prayer Card Goal Exceeds Expectations
They set a goal of 100 prayers and asked people to send them on 3×5 notecards. Six weeks later, they had received almost 300. Her husband asked a White House liaison to deliver them to President Trump.
“I handed them to him and said look, we don’t want any [thing], just give them to him okay?” Rep. Bost explained.
A couple of months later, Bost joined a few other congressmen in the Oval Office for a bill signing.
President Trump Says, ‘We Use Those’
“The president looks at me and goes ‘Bost. Bost.’ He said, ‘prayer cards!’ and I said ‘yeah, Mr. President. My wife did that and circulated prayer cards.’ And he said, ‘We use those.’ And I said, ‘Good I’m so glad, that’s wonderful,'” recalled Bost.
The president then asked an aide to grab the bag of cards off a shelf so they could take a picture.
“He said, ‘understand, we use these,’ and I turned and when I turned I ran, honest to goodness, chest-to-chest with the Vice President and he goes, ‘Mike he’s not joking, we use these,'” explained Bost. “‘They’ll be times we say okay, and we reach out and we grab them. It’s amazing that people are willing to put these together.'”
Tracy was elated to learn he actually reads the cards.
“I cried and I still get emotional about it,” she said. “I’m thankful that every day he gets to put his hand in that bag and I know the right card for that day is the one he puts in his hand.”
Teacher Andrea Deming’s students who wrote cards were thankful, too – even those who told her they didn’t like the president.
“I encouraged them to just say positive things – if you had a specific prayer for him or a specific scripture that you would like to say that’s positive,” said Deming. “We strongly encouraged them to keep it positive and they all did. There were none that were rude or anything in that matter.”
Knowing President Trump Reads Prayers Eases Concerns
Cassandra Ortiz, who now helps collect the prayer cards through Frontline Family Ministries, says she was worried about President Trump because she didn’t know where he stood spiritually. She says this experience has eased her concerns.
“To know that the Word of God is being spoken, it’s being taught, it’s being reflected on, it’s being meditated on in the White House – it’s just a huge encouragement to know that God is working and God is moving in the White House,” Ortiz told CBN in an interview.
She believes there is power in believers joining together to send prayers to our leaders.
Bost: Prayers an ‘Integral Part of the Job’
“So many people, we don’t want to be the silent Christians. We don’t want to be the ones that see the issue, complain about the issue, and then don’t do anything about it,” continued Ortiz.
Congressman Bost says prayers and faith are an integral part of his job.
“I don’t know how anyone does this job or any other job without a faith that is strong and without the prayer and support of other people,” said Bost.
And he thinks many Christians would be surprised to learn how much prayer happens daily in the Capitol.
“There’s never a day, never a morning, never sometimes during the day of any day that we’re there that there’s not at least one or two Bible studies or prayer groups that meet,” says Bost. “I was so overwhelmed with the amount of faith in DC.”
Prayers Now Coming from All Over America
The Bosts still deliver about a hundred prayer cards each month to the White House and now collect them from all over the country.
Tracy encourages people not just to write prayers to the president, but also the vice president, the first lady, or any other leader God is putting on your heart – like a mayor, city councilman, or state senator.
