Today as I watched the swearing in of the 44th president with my children, many thoughts raced through my mind. There are numerous challenges ahead for this nation and I can think of no better way to handle them than by giving them over to God. I would like to offer the following prayers for this country and the future it has in store.

I pray that President Obama will let God lead him as he makes the decisions that will lead this nation for the next four years. I pray that he will base his decisions on godly, moral values that bring this nation closer to God rather than farther away. I pray that he is blessed with wisdom and strength for the great task that lies ahead of him. I pray for heath and well-being for him and his family.

I pray that he will find a way to make good on his promises to bring this nation together rather than dividing it further. I pray that all of his words are not just hollow rhetoric but the reflection of a true desire to help American grow stronger, to be a nation blessed by God.

I also pray for his family. That President Obama can continue to be the father and husband that God intended and that his precious children can be sheltered from the harms of being in the national spotlight.

I pray that our lawmakers will come to understand that they work for us and not the other way around. I pray that they will stop finding ways to improve their own lives and do something to actually help this country. That they will actually start earning the exorbitant salaries that our taxes pay them and quit spending their time playing political games and seeking their own interests.

I pray that we, the people of this nation. will leave the attitudes of selfishness and entitlement behind. That we will again start accepting responsibility for our actions rather than expecting the government to pay the consequences of our folly. And that we will start working together for the good of this great and wonderful nation. For the sake of us and for the sake of our children.

Finally, I offer a prayer of thanks to the retiring President Bush. I appreciate the sacrifices that he and his family made for this country and his service to it. I pray that he is blessed in his new life.

May this nation turn to God so that He will continue to bless this nation that I so deeply love.