US debt crisis Americans pray for a resolution Christians, Muslims and Jews have united in America to pray for the country's budget

US debt crisis: Americans pray for a resolution

Christians, Muslims and Jews have united in America to pray for the country's budget, and teach Republicans and Democrats a lesson in compromise.

President Barack Obama speaks in a rare prime-time address to the nation Photo: EPA

7:00AM BST 26 Jul 2011

So far, nothing else has worked, including President Barack Obama's negotiations and warnings from Wall Street that a failure to promptly raise US borrowing authority would result in economic Armageddon.

As the 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 senators do battle inside the Capitol, outside some 100 believers are trying a different approach to convert debt limit doubters - a daily prayer vigil.

But it's not just any budget deal these activists want to settle for in return for raising US borrowing authority.

The vigils are a way of lobbying against any deal that slashes too much from programs that protect the underprivileged, like nutrition programs for the poor or health care for the poor and disabled.

"I hope that it's not only effective but a model for how Democrats and Republicans, who differ on many issues, can come together on a common issue to move the country forward," said Rabbi David Saperstein, executive director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.