In the face of natural disasters like the recent flash flooding in Texas, even the most powerful government officials must resort to prayer. “Father, we’re humbled by your grace. We’re humbled by your mercy. God, we surrender to you. Jesus, you are the great Redeemer,” prayed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. “Lord God, as we work together as a cabinet … [we pray] that you would give us all the tools that we need to show up and support and help to rebuild and to restore.”

“God, we lift up the families that are mourning, that are grieving, those families that are hurting. Oh God, we pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding,” continued Turner. “Those that are still there, that are alive — we pray that we would find them and bring them back to their families.”

How remarkable it is to find such praying Christians at the highest level of American government! Americans often take for granted that most of our elected officials claim the name of Christ, but history bears precious few examples of government leaders who were also born-again believers.

“To be in the White House, to be in the Cabinet Room, and to pray is very humbling and a great honor,” Turner reflected on “Washington Watch.” “President Trump has made it very clear that prayer is important, not just for the cabinet meeting, but for those who are in leadership and those in our country. … I’m so grateful to have a president who values prayer, who values faith in Christ and Christianity.”

While Trump’s own character gives ample cause to doubt his conversion, he has at least fostered an environment where Christians can practice their faith openly and without fear of reprisal — indeed, where Christian prayer is encouraged at Cabinet meetings. One can hardly imagine prayer in Jesus’s name would have been offered — much less publicized — in the Cabinet of a President Kamala Harris.

This was hardly the first occasion. Turner, who is also a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, also prayed at Trump’s first cabinet meeting, inaugurating the new administration under the watchful eye of a heavenly sovereign.

But Tuesday’s prayer was appropriate given the magnitude of devastation in Texas — the sort of flooding that can only be called “an act of God.” “So, we had a time of prayer for our brothers and sisters and our people in Texas,” said Turner. “We wanted as a cabinet to convene and let people know that we’re not only thinking about them, but we are literally making intercession for them.”

As with any authority, the primary task of a national government is to act for the benefit of those under its authority. The Trump administration has sought to do just that by responding vigorously to Texas’s needs. For instance, as HUD secretary, Turner has provided shelter, food, counseling, and family assistance in Texas, as well as offering rebuilding loans to those who lost homes in the flooding. “When I tell you that we have a group of people that really care, I do mean that,” Turner told “Washington Watch” listeners.

According to Scripture, government is a positive good, rather than a necessary evil. Paul told Christians in Rome, who lived under the authority of pagan emperors, that the one in authority “is God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4), and that “those [authorities] that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). There has been an unfortunate tradition among American Christians to believe that “government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” But that notion originated not from Christians but from the deist (perhaps atheist) Thomas Paine.

Because God instituted government as a positive good, Christians are instructed to pray for governing officials. “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions,” Paul told the young pastor Timothy, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

While Turner is ready and equipped to pray for others, he also covets prayers for himself and the rest of President Trump’s administration. “Please pray for those that have been impacted by these natural disasters in Texas and around our country,” he began. “Also pray for our president, for our cabinet administration, and all of those who serve in public service as we serve the people of America.”

“Pray that we would be strong, that we would be healthy, that we would lean on the everlasting arm of the Lord, that our eyes would not be taken off of him. [Pray] that we will look to God, we will look to Christ for wisdom, we will look to him for strength and clarity,” he continued. “Because, as we put our hands to the plow, we’re doing it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to serve those he’s called us to serve. And so, as people intercede for us, just pray for God to keep us strong, to keep us humble, and to keep … our eyes are stayed on him.”

Executive officials are not the only ones in need of prayer. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann described on “Washington Watch” how members of Congress are yet again behind schedule to complete a responsible budget for the national government. “We need to pray every day for our Congress, for our leaders, for the people like us who agree on conservative fiscal and social values,” he pleaded. “We’ve got to pray to God … [for] good, faithful stewardship … making sure that our great republic that I think is a gift from God to the American people [will] stay strong now and in the future.”

Christians must always pray for government officials, whether they are Christian or pagan, righteous or wicked. But the privilege is much greater when we have a chance for godly rulers. Christians should especially pray for government officials when those government officials are praying too.