(CNSNews.com) - A group of lawmakers who meet each week to pray in the U.S. Capitol called on the American people Wednesday to join them in praying for the country. However, supporters of a so-called separation between church and state said the lawmakers should "stop meddling in religion and get back to work."
"There is an enormous power in prayer," Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) told a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. "This is a crucial time for those who believe in the power to pray that God would heal our land and sustain our nation."
The Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, a group of lawmakers led by Forbes that holds a weekly prayer meeting in the Capitol, has launched a website asking Americans to commit to pray for five minutes every week.
"Our nation faces enormous challenges that seem to grow daily," Forbes said, calling on Americans of all faiths to "build a spiritual prayer wall around America that will go 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) asked Americans to "pray for our Congress and to pray for our nation - no matter what your religious background or political affiliation - to pray for our country and pray for those who are seeking to lead our country, for wisdom."
"We know we're promised in scripture that if you ask for wisdom, God will grant it, and we want to ask for that wisdom," he said, adding that "there are no limitations to prayer, no limitations to what God can do as we seek wisdom and guidance for our country."
While more than two dozen lawmakers - mostly Southern Republicans - took turns praising the power of prayer on the Capitol grounds, proponents of a separation between church and state criticized them for mixing religion and politics.
"Congressional meddling in religion is an affront to the First Amendment principle of church-state separation," Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement. "Religion is too important to become a political football."
Lynn said there are "a host of political issues of utmost importance to Americans. Rep. Forbes and other members of Congress should work on those and leave decisions about religion to the American people."
