February 8, 2011 | 6:30 pm

Obama on prayer and being a Christian

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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The evolution of President Obama’s public faith begins with his interview with Cathleen Falsani in “The God Factor”; then became a central issue as he dispelled myths of being a Muslim on the presidential campaign trail; then there was a lot of speculation after the new president and his family skipped church and then sort of looked for a congregation to join; finally, at the end of 2010, Obama’s faith came back into the foreground.

Now this.

Last Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama spoke at length and in detail about his Christian faith and “brushed off critics who question the authenticity of his beliefs.” From RNS:

“My Christian faith ... has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time,” Obama told thousands of political leaders, diplomats and religious officials at the National Prayer Breakfast.

“We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we are being true to our conscience and true to our God.”

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“Once I started running for president and she heard what they were saying about me on cable, she felt the need to pray harder,” he said.

“By the time I was elected president, she says, ‘I just couldn’t keep up on my own. I was having to pray eight, nine times a day just for you.’ So she enlisted help from around the country.”

Obama said he prays in the morning for “strength to do right” and at bedtime, “I wait on the Lord and I ask him to forgive me my sins.”