Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and major events are planned at the U.S. Capitol. But unlike the last eight years of the Bush administration, the White House will not hold a big event.
The Bible reading has begun from Genesis to Revelation as hundreds have come to the U.S. Capitol this week to read the Bible cover to cover in honor of Thursday's National Day of Prayer. The event became law back in 1952.
Rep. Congressman Randy Forbes is leading events this week on Capitol Hill.
"How would this nation be different? How would we have weathered those storms if we hadn't prayed, if we hadn't been a nation of people who had that kind of faith," he asked. "I would suggest that it would be markedly different and not in a positive way."
The event has typically had a very Judeo-Christian feel and of course many conservatives in Congress believe it should be that way because of the religious heritage of the nation. But the president caused a little controversy recently with his remarks in Turkey.
"We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values," Obama said.
Those comments did not sit well with Forbes who chastised the president in a recent newspaper editorial.
"We just respectfully disagree with the president and we invite him and others who think that they've strayed from those principles to come back and look at them again and restudy the birth of this nation and where we are today, the principles that made us great and keep us great as we go through these difficult times that we're facing as a nation," he said.
The president's comments also were taken to task by Christian groups on Youtube.
For the last eight years during the Bush administration, the National Day of Prayer received the royal treatment. There was a big event at the White House with conservative Christian leaders.
Not this time.
The White House told CBN News that the events by President Bush were really the exception and that Obama will do what presidents in the past have typically done, and sign a proclamation Thursday.
Meanwhile, Capitol Hill related events will go on including a formal resolution introduced in Congress this week reaffirming America's important religious history.