Pastor Paula White-Cain told Breitbart News Sunday that prayer can help Americans come together in a politically divided time.

White-Cain, who is a spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump, and the author of Something Greater: Finding Triumph over Trials, appeared on the program as part of a new segment highlighting spiritual lessons and insights to take into the week ahead.

She was asked about the erosion of social conventions and political rituals designed to keep Americans united even in the face of deep divisions.

The context was a discussion of the bizarre gesture by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) earlier this month to rip up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as he was acknowledging cheers in the House of Representatives.

Pelosi continues to defend her actions, which gained media attention but also criticism.

Breitbart News asked Pastor White-Cain what Americans should do when a leader literally tears a national symbol apart on live television.

In a boxing match — like the upcoming heavyweight bout between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury — there are rituals through which the fighters express sportsmanship.

But Pelosi’s gesture suggested that those rituals were being destroyed in politics.

White-Cain, noting that even some Democrats were disheartened by what Pelosi had done, said that prayer was a ritual that Americans could use to step back from the political situation and recognize our commonality.

“You have to start to start with prayer. I don’t think intellect and human wisdom can solve this,” she said.

She cited the story of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, who was struggling to rebuild the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem against vehement opposition, and turned to prayer to unify and strengthen the nation.

White-Cain added that when leaders said that they prayed for one another, they should mean it.

She concluded by citing the parting words of Jesus to the Church in the New Testament (John 17:21): “Let them be one, even as We are One.”

She also cited Psalm 133 — “How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together” — which is important to both the Jewish and Christian faiths.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.