Obama’s prayer: ‘Lord, have that skirt get longer’

WASHINGTON - Like any other father of a growing daughter, Barack Obama too has to sometimes summon the help of God. In fact, he says being president “has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray.”

At the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, Obama departed from an otherwise serious talk about prayer to poke a bit of fun at his elder daughter, Malia and wife Michelle.

First it was the turn of the First Lady. “…Like all of us, my faith journey has had its twists and turns. It hasn’t always been a straight line. I have thanked God for the joys of parenthood and Michelle’s willingness to put up with me,” said Obama.

” In the wake of failures and disappointments I’ve questioned what God had in store for me and been reminded that God’s plans for us may not always match our own short-sighted desires.

“And let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith. The presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray,” he said amid laughter.

“Abe Lincoln said, as many of you know, ‘I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go’.”

Then came the turn of Malia. “As I travel across the country folks often ask me what is it that I pray for. And like most of you, my prayers sometimes are general: Lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office,” he said.

“Sometimes they’re specific: Lord, give me patience as I watch Malia go to her first dance-where there will be boys. Lord, have that skirt get longer as she travels to that dance,” Obama said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)