A Moment in the Oval Office
4:30
Recently, Dr. Owen Strachan and I were blessed to represent JDFI in an Oval Office meeting with President Trump. We, along with other Christian leaders, were asked to pray with and for the president. A photo of us, gathered around him at his desk in prayer, quickly went “viral” on multiple media sites, including international outlets.
I hope the following back story will encourage you.
Earlier that day, the group was asked to meet with the White House Faith Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex. The Faith Office is led by Pastor Paula White-Cain and Faith Director Jenny Korn.
Under President Trump, the White House Faith Office has been given extraordinary influence and responsibility in formulating administration policies. The staff has been directed by executive order to “consult with and seek information from experts and various faith and community leaders.”1
The purpose of our meeting was to share our ideas with these presidential advisors on issues of concern to American Christians. Their agenda includes religious liberty, strengthening marriage and family, protecting women and children, combatting anti-religious bias including anti-Christian and antisemitic hate, promoting foster care and adoption, reforming education, and fighting crime and drug abuse—to name just a few!
These issues are subjects Dr. James Dobson has spoken and written about over the years. Our advice to the White House was rooted in Dr. Dobson’s and JDFI’s commitment to faith, family, and freedom. I’m pleased to report that our time was productive. The discussions led me to believe that fantastic new policy ideas are being developed that will help our country and all Americans.
What happened next was unexpected but welcomed.
After several hours, we were told that the president wanted us to join him in the Oval Office. The day was unusually busy at the White House. President Trump was dealing with multiple challenges and opportunities, domestic and international.
I was privileged to linger immediately outside the Oval Office while our larger group was brought from the West Wing lobby. During that time, I had multiple opportunities to speak with many of the president’s top staff, including cabinet members. Notable was how many Christians now have key positions throughout our government.
Eventually, our whole group entered the Oval Office where President Trump greeted us enthusiastically. We encouraged him and then prayed with him. Given the gravity of the many concerns on his agenda, I was amazed at how much time he spent with us and the genuine appreciation he showed the group.
Every president brings to the Oval Office mementos, paintings, and sculptures that hold historical or personal significance. President Trump has done the same. What he was excited to show us was noteworthy: a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence lent to him by the National Archives.
The Declaration was framed and mounted on the wall nearest to the president’s desk. This historic document was protected from the fading effects of light by a special curtain that the president carefully opened so we could see it.
The second paragraph of the Declaration contains America’s central idea. Hopefully, you remember from your school days what the Founders penned:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.2
The Creator acknowledged in the paragraph is the one and only God of the Bible—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the very one who was incarnated in Jesus. Our country was founded on the idea that God, not government, is the author of our liberty.
Please join JDFI in praying that America will rededicate ourselves to God. America will be great again when it is godly again.
1. The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes White House Faith Office,” February 7, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-white-house-faith-office/
2. Library of Congress, “Thomas Jefferson, et al, July 4, 1776, Copy of Declaration of Independence,” Manuscript/Mixed Material, https://www.loc.gov/item/mtjbib000159/
