- In today's divisive and toxic culture,

not even a simple prayeris immune to criticism,

especially when it comesfrom the vice president,

Mike Pence, who of coursetakes his faith very seriously.

So there he was, prayingthis week for God's

guidance regardingcombating the coronavirus,

but apparently that'scontroversial to some.

That's right, Thomas Chatterton Williams,

he's a writer for New Yorkmagazine and Harper's magazine,

he tweeted about that photo,and it took off like wildfire.

Here's the provocative tweet.

(air whooshes)

Quote, "Mike Pence and his coronavirus

"emergency team praying for a solution.

"We are so screwed."

(page turning)And then, there's a tweet

by Brian Karem, he's aWhite House correspondent,

but he chimed in withthis commentary, quote,

"Clear that the @VP and @RealDonaldTrump

"are in over their heads.

"POTUS is literally praying for a miracle

"to make coronavirus go away."

And the snark on Twitter goes on and on

and on, as you might imagine.

Look, we, as Christians, know that prayer

is an act of surrender, and when you saw

Mike Pence praying in that photo,

he's praying for guidance, and that's it.

He's not praying for thecoronavirus to magically go away.

And so, this idea that it'sactually being criticized

is relatively ridiculous.

Now, I did talk to MikePence about praying,

specifically in the White House.

He says prayer goes on allthe time in the White House.

We talked about that twoyears ago, in May of 2018.

Have a look.

- There's prayer goingon on a regular basis

in this White House,and it's one of the most

meaningful things to me, is, whether it's

public meetings or not, I've lost count

of the number of timesthat the president's

nudged me or nudged anothermember of the Cabinet

and said, "Let's startthis meeting with prayer."

He's someone who reallybelieves in the power

of prayer and the importanceof faith in American life.

You saw that in high reliefat the White House today,

but it's not just on theNational Day of Prayer.

- You know, it reallyshould come as no surprise

that past administrations,really, from the founding

of our country have relied on prayer

during times of national crisis.

Take President Clinton, for example.

In the mid-1990s, as Americawas preparing to invade Haiti,

Clinton's speechwriter wrotea line, and it said this,

"No president makes decisions like

"this one without deep thought."

But Clinton said something was missing,

and he told his speechwriterto add the word prayers,

so it read "thoughtsand prayers" at the end,

not just "thoughts."

And then, of course, the Civil War.

During the brutal and bloody Civil War,

Abraham Lincoln could only look to God.

This is what he said,quote, "I have been driven

"many times upon myknees by the overwhelming

"conviction that I had nowhere else to go.

"My own wisdom and that of all about me

"seemed insufficient for that day."

(slide projector clicks)And then, of course, JFK,

a Roman Catholic, known to head straight

to St. Matthew's Cathedralacross the street

from the White House for prayer constantly

during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

And then, of course, how can we not leave

out Jimmy Carter, President Jimmy Carter,

the Southern BaptistSunday school teacher.

It's like he's beenteaching Sunday schools

ever since he got out of the womb.

He talked extensivelyabout praying for wisdom

when trying to break an impasse between

Anwar Sadat, a Muslim, and Menachem Begin,

a Jew, at the famousCamp David peace accords.

And then, finally, GeraldFord, he turned to the Bible.

As Richard Nixon'sresignation was nearing,

and he was about to become president,

Ford and his son actually began reading

from Proverbs three, five, and six,

where it talks about "trusting in the Lord

"with all your heart, and leaning not

"on your own understanding."

So, the bottom line here,Mike Pence's prayer,

not unusual in any way.

As a matter of fact, it'sas American as it gets.

David Brody, CBN News, Washington.