Jonathan Roumie Calls on Americans to Return to Prayer: ‘It’s Been at the Center of My Life’

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Jonathan Roumie on Sunday called on Americans to recommit themselves to the Lord, emphasizing the importance of prayer and repentance and saying both have been key to his spiritual walk since taking on the role of Jesus in The Chosen.

Jonathan Roumie delivers remarks at Rededicate 250 on the National Mall:

"Rededicate yourself, or dedicate yourself to the first time to holiness, because holiness is what makes us sinners into saints. And perhaps that is what God is asking of us again as a nation, to reopen our… pic.twitter.com/FvbiZGdPEf

— Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) May 17, 2026

“Prayer has been at the center of my life,” Roumie told thousands gathered for Rededicate 250, a faith-focused event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., billed by organizers as a celebration of the nation’s spiritual heritage and a rededication of “our country as One Nation Under God.”

“For 250 years, we have endeavored to be one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice,” Roumie said. “May we be that nation once more. May we rededicate ourselves to all that the Lord is calling us to these next 250 years, and may we – the citizens of the United States of America – never cease praying for our leaders, for each other, for our nation and for the world.”

Roumie has spent the past eight years as one of the more prominent Christians on the planet as the face of The Chosen – and the past six years as a spokesperson for the Hallow app.

“If God hands you the assignment of portraying on a global stage His own Son, the Savior of the world, the Alpha and Omega, the great I Am, and you do not have faith – Lord help you,” Roumie said to laughter.

But Roumie said prayer is not only vital for those in the spotlight but essential for every American – both for their own spiritual lives and for the future of the nation.

“He wants the prayers of all of his children, because that's who we are,” Roumie said. “We are His, and He is ours, whether you realize it or maybe not yet. Our existence on earth is merely a rest stop between the mortal and the immortal, the earthly and the divine. God has always been there long before us. He always will be – now and forever, world without end. And He will always be waiting to encounter us secretly, hoping in His divine, limitless, sacred heart that we will humbly turn away from the trappings of this world, and seek Him first with all our soul, all our heart, and all our strength – not only as individuals but collectively as a nation. His deepest desire for us as a people is to love Him above all else, and to love one another as ourselves.”

He described prayer as a “kind of heavenly cargo shuttle,” where individuals can lift “our wants, our needs, and our gratitude toward heaven.” Prayer is, he added, “open to anybody and everybody willing to humble themselves at the feet of their Creator.”

Repentance, too, is essential, he said.

“There is power in repentance, let me tell you from experience,” Roumie said. “Rededicate yourself – or dedicate yourself for the first time – to holiness, because holiness is what makes us sinners into saints. And perhaps that is what God is asking of us again as a nation – to reopen our hearts to Him, so that these shores, once filled with those poor, tired, huddled masses, may forever remain the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Faith was at the core of the nation’s founding and is essential to its future, Roumie said.

“At the heart of the vision for what America could be was faith – faith in God, faith in liberty, and faith in the seemingly impossible task of building a nation,” Roumie said. “The Founding Fathers' belief in the American experiment, fortified by their faith in God, formed the bedrock of a virtuous people and proved that this noble endeavor was not only imaginable but achievable against all odds.”

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Photo Credit: ©X / Freedom 250

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

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