House Republicans will have some time to reflect on what happened in the frantic days before the Memorial Day break. The mad scramble that led to another astonishing, come-from-behind win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was chalked up to a lot of things — his close relationship with the president, maybe, or promises he made behind closed doors. And while there are plenty of good theories for his miraculous string of successes, only one confirms what those closest to him already knew: God came through.

It’s not that Johnson isn’t patient, humble, and accessible — he is. And it’s not that he isn’t genuinely trying to bridge the gaps and listen to his members — he does that too. But the defining characteristic of his speakership comes down to one thing and one thing only: his sincere and heartfelt faith.

People who’ve spent any time with the speaker or followed him closely these last 18 months can’t help but notice the authenticity of his relationship with Jesus Christ and its prominence in everything he does. In The Hill’s detailed retelling of the coup Johnson pulled off on the framework for reconciliation, the very first sentence says more about the Louisianan than the rest of the 2,000-word story ever could. “As the fate of President Trump’s agenda hung in the balance in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson turned to what he knows best: prayer.”

As the reporters went on to say, “At the end of an hours-long, late-night meeting that came after Johnson was forced to scrap a key vote Wednesday night, the Speaker, a devout Southern Baptist, led a group of hard-line conservative holdouts and members of leadership in a benediction for the conference to reach a solution and to receive guidance from God to do the right thing for the country, two sources in the room told The Hill.” The next day, they declared, “his prayers would be answered.”

When the speaker read the article, he told a group of close-knit prayer warriors he was proud. “People on Capitol Hill are acknowledging that our prayers are being answered,” Johnson said, smiling to the group of high-profile intercessors who meet regularly to lift up Mike, Kelly, and their family. It’s a gathering that’s taken place since Johnson declared his intentions to run for speaker — and shows just how vital he views prayer to his often overwhelming job.

“We don’t get to communicate with you every day to tell you all the praise reports and things that happen,” the speaker told the dozen faces of pastors, former congressmen, Christian leaders, and fellow Louisianans on a Zoom call, “but the constant fervent prayers of a righteous people availeth much, and we see it every single day.”

These are the quiet conversations, away from the public eye, when Johnson can be honest about the weight he’s carrying. Looking back on the grueling and sometimes painful negotiations of these last several months, he called the milestones along the way “Red Sea moments” — a phrase he’s used a lot in his speakership to describe those improbable situations when he knew that earthly powers were no match for the opposition he was up against. “Remember, [back in April,] we had a one-vote margin,” he told them. “I mean, this doesn’t work on paper. It’s literally the highest, highest possible stakes, and no one believes we can do it.” He paused and added, “We’re going to give all the credit to God.”

And he means it. In recent interviews, the speaker has openly admitted to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins that “it’s a benefit to be constantly underestimated, you know? It allows us to get it done and surprise everybody. And that’s fine,” Johnson insisted. “And then, you know, frankly, between you and me, then God gets the glory for it.”

That doesn’t mean these months have been easy. As Johnson joked, “I did not recognize that it was going to be a Red Sea moment every day for the foreseeable future. But that’s effectively what it is,” he acknowledged. “And so, we have no anxiety about the challenges. We don’t. We never doubt that God’s going to deliver us.” Thinking back on all of the difficult times he’s endured in a very divided caucus, Johnson emphasized, “They have written our political eulogy so many times since we were given the gavel — but I mean, God just comes through.”

Then, just as he’s done publicly so many times, the speaker praised the Lord for how He’s working. “I believe that God’s will is being done,” Johnson wanted the group to know. “I believe he’s given us another chance for the country, and we’re just trying to be faithful step by step.”

He talked about the perspective he gained from studying Exodus 14, when the Israelites were being chased by Pharaoh’s army. “It’s not like in the Disney movie, ‘Prince of Egypt,’ or the Charlton Heston movie [‘The Ten Commandments’],” Johnson smiled. “We always envision that the Red Sea was open all at once, but it wasn’t,” the speaker said. “A lot of Bible scholars believed it was [opened] step by step. The water parted, just each step. And so it’s a daily reliance. It’s a constant reliance upon God and his provision.”

Those who’ve had the privilege to pray into the speaker’s life feel very strongly that his humble posture in private is what helps him meet very real challenges in public. “It’s not a casual thing,” Perkins insisted to The Washington Stand about Johnson’s faith, which he’s witnessed since the speaker was in law school. “Some people talk about prayer, and they don’t mean it; they’re just throwaway lines. For Mike, it’s absolutely crucial to everything he does.”

Another leader who’s seen the speaker up close for the last year and a half, helping to shoulder his spiritual burdens, is Gary Hamrick, senior pastor of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Va. “We are all called to pray,” he reiterated to TWS. “But there are times when certain circumstances might demand greater prayer, or certain people might need greater prayer. So when I was asked to be part of Speaker Mike Johnson’s personal prayer team,” he explained, “I was happy to accept the invitation, because I can only imagine the demands, burdens, stress, and spiritual warfare that weigh on the Speaker of the House. He is in a very difficult leadership position of having to build consensus and unity among 435 members of Congress, who often have 435 different ideas of how things should be done! I imagine it’s like trying to herd cats,” Hamrick said unenviably.

And let’s not forget the gravity of Johnson’s position, Hamrick pointed out. “The speaker is second in line to the presidency, so there is enormous stress and responsibility on him personally. And when I consider how all of this also impacts his family — the challenges and adjustments they have had to make along the way to accommodate his schedule, responsibilities, and security requirements — it became clear to me that the least I could do was to pray for him and his family.”

Hamrick, who regularly leads his congregation in prayer for government officials no matter who’s in power, sets aside every Tuesday with others to intercede for the speaker specifically. “I count it a privilege,” he stressed, “to petition the throne of grace on behalf of our speaker, his family, and our nation.”

Perhaps no one understands the profound meaning that holds for their family like Kelly Johnson. “I watch the daily grind of this gig,” she admitted on the call, “and I’ve asked other people and other speakers … ‘Surely it wasn’t like this before. It could not have been like this. This is a new thing, right?’ And they all say, ‘Yeah, this is the modern speakership. It’s very different. And it’s really the job for probably four or five people that one man has to do.”

But her husband underscored, “I think one of the reasons that we’ve been able to defy the odds day by day and get all these big things accomplished … [is that] I don’t ever doubt that God is going to come through. And when the tension is high and people run around with their hair on fire and they start [throwing] some of the arrows [at the] speaker, that’s just what happens when you’re in leadership. I don’t ever get rattled by it. I don’t take it personally. I just love them through it. … [T]hat’s part of the job.” Ultimately, it’s the prayer, he insists, that is “carrying us through this crazy season. We would not be able to do this impossible thing [without it].”

When this speaker steps down (sometime in the very distant future, many hope), several things will set Mike Johnson apart. His wafer-thin majority, for one, his surprising effectiveness, the respect he’s earned from his colleagues, even his relative anonymity before he rose to the House’s most powerful position. But what will almost certainly be remembered most is the legacy he leaves of steadfast faith during one of America’s most consequential chapters.

Whatever happens now or in these next several months, it’s refreshing to everyone that this speaker knows — it won’t be his success story to tell. It’s God’s.