Evangelist Franklin Graham delivered a prayer highlighting God’s faithfulness at the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday, invoking divine guidance, protection and thanksgiving as Trump began his second, non-consecutive term.
Addressing the crowd gathered at the U.S. Capitol, the 72-year-old evangelist opened by acknowledging the difficulties that Trump specifically faced during former President Joe Biden’s term, saying, “Mr. President, the last four years, there are times I’m sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done. We praise Him and give Him glory.”
Graham’s prayer drew on verses from Psalms, Daniel and Samuel to emphasize God’s sovereignty over nations and leaders. He called on God to grant Trump wisdom and strength, likening Trump’s leadership to the biblical figure Moses: “You and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand,” Graham prayed.
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“We pray for President Trump, that you’ll watch over, protect, guide, direct him, give him your wisdom from your throne on high. We ask that You would bless him and that our nation would be blessed through him.”
Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, extended his prayers to Vice President J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, and their young family, expressing hope that Vance would be a supportive partner in leadership, comparing him to Aaron holding up Moses’ arms during battle.
The prayer also highlighted gratitude for first lady Melania Trump, praising her “beauty, warmth, and grace” as a symbol of inspiration both to the nation and the world. Graham called on Americans to remember the nation’s blessings, including its freedoms and prosperity, while urging them to remain steadfast in their faith.
“The prophet Samuel reminded the people it was you that brought them up from the land of Egypt. And he said, ‘Now stand still that I may reason with you before the Lord,’” Graham said.
“We take this moment to stand still, to remember the great things that you have done for this nation,” he prayed. “Thank you for the protection, the bounty, the freedoms that we so enjoy; we remember to keep our eyes fixed on you, and may our hearts be inclined to your voice. We know that America can never be great again if we turn our backs on you. We ask for your help.”
Graham concluded his prayer with an invocation of Jesus Christ as the “King of kings, the Lord of lords.”
Over the years, Graham has been an outspoken supporter of Trump’s policies and has claimed that Trump was the last presidential candidate his late father voted for.
“My father knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump. He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation,” he wrote in 2019.
Religious leaders of different faiths offered closing prayers for the ceremony: Rabbi Ari Berman, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell and Rev. Frank Mann.
Sewell, pastor of 180 Church in Detroit, Michigan, celebrated what he described as a “millimeter miracle” that saved Trump’s life after an attempted assassination in 2023.
“Heavenly Father, we’re so grateful that you gave our 45th and now our 47th president, a millimeter miracle,” Sewell prayed. “We are grateful that you are the one that has called him for such a time as this, that America would begin to dream again.”
The prayer focused on themes of equality, justice and unity, invoking the core values of the nation’s founding.
“We pray that we would fulfill the true meaning of our creed, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” Sewell continued. “We pray that you use our president, that we will live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.”
Sewell then led the audience in envisioning a renewed America, drawing on the hymn “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”
“Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we are so grateful today that you will use our 47th president so we would sing with new meaning, my country, ‘Tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing, land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
Sewell painted a vivid picture of freedom resonating across the nation’s landscape, echoing Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic words:
“So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous hilltops of California.”
He expanded this vision to include every corner of the country, proclaiming: “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill in Mississippi, from every state, every city, every village, and every hamlet.”
Sewell prayed for a day when all Americans — regardless of race or religion — could join together in unity. “When we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Your children — black men and white men, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile — will be able to sing in the meaning of that old Negro spiritual.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
