A Georgia son who has defended America in one forum or another for decades, Doug Collins is President Trump’s 2025 pick for Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate confirmed him on February 4, 2025, and he was promptly sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court.

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Secretary Collins is already facing many challenges. Although he seems to have taken well to this position, already speaking out fiercely in defense of veterans and their needs, Mr. Collins still needs our prayers!

What is Collins’ background?

Secretary Collins hails from Gainesville, Georgia. He has been married to his wife, Lisa, since 1988, and they have three children. Collins has been a chaplain in both the Navy and the Air Force Reserve, and he is currently still serving as chaplain (Colonel) in the Air Force Reserve Command.

Mr. Collins served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007-2013. After that, he was a US Representative from 2013-2021. He has also been an attorney at his own law firm since 2010.

Secretary Collins is a Christian, and he is open about his conservative social and political beliefs. He was the senior pastor of a Baptist church in Georgia for 11 years, having received an M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1996.

Why was Mr. Collins selected to lead the VA?

Mr. Collins is highly educated AND highly experienced in the law, the government, and in the military. As a veteran himself, he cares about veterans and understands their plight. As such, he is uniquely suited to head up the renovations the VA requires in order to serve veterans better.

Furthermore, Secretary Collins is a skillful, no-nonsense communicator who is not intimidated and doesn’t back down from justice.

He is skilled at sticking up for what’s right, even when a lot of verbal sparring becomes required—and even when such sparring becomes hostile. These are all characteristics necessary for someone who is facing the monumental task of streamlining government while continuing to serve (and improve service to) our nation’s veterans, even in a hostile public relations environment.

What challenges is he facing in his role?

First, Mr. Collins is working hard to trim bureaucracy in the VA without trimming benefits and healthcare for veterans. For example, on March 3, the VA announced that it would terminate “585 non-mission-critical or duplicative contracts” to save budget dollars.

The official announcement says this: “Among the contract cancellations announced today are those that paid contractors to generate “contract deliverables” for other contractors to fulfill. Other canceled contracts cover administrative services that VA can perform on its own, such as staff mentoring, leadership coaching, preparation of meeting agendas and meeting minutes, as well as services such as “executive support” that involve creating PowerPoint slides.”

Since new leadership has decided that VA staff can create its own PowerPoint slides, coach its own leadership, and mentor its own staff, more than $900 million is going to go “back toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.”

Secretary Collins has already had to deal with misinformation, fearmongering, antagonism, and hearsay from mainstream media (MSM).

If you peruse his account on X (formerly Twitter), you can see video clips and news articles demonstrating a number of horrifying occasions where, according to Secretary Collins, MSM journalists reported hearsay as fact without fact-checking. In these videos, at times the MSM reports are openly and aggressively antagonizing Mr. Collins, and worse. Dealing with the hatred of the left is certainly going to be a challenge, but one that he is well able to handle.

Additionally, Mr. Collins inherited what many call a broken system to begin with.

Public complaints about bureaucracy, long turnaround times for benefit approval, quality of care, and other things have been occurring for years. Based on what Mr. Collins is saying, however, he is working hard to separate fact from fiction—and to fix the broken parts of the system, so that our nation’s veterans can be served properly and with honor, as they deserve.

Finally, Secretary Collins is in a position where he has to constantly reassure veterans and the general public are not going away or diminishing.

Because of the tactics of the MSM, Collins is receiving a lot of flak from the public who are fearful that benefits and services are going away. However, the Secretary has stated repeatedly that veterans’ benefits and services will not be diminished in any way, but MSM continues to incite fear among the general public about this.

How can we pray for VA Secretary Doug Collins?

Here are a few points to keep in mind as you pray for Mr. Collins in his role as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and even praying for the VA in general:

• Pray that the VA would be fixed, and that the entire organization would serve veterans and their families better than it ever has before.
• Pray for benefit applications to be processed quickly; for services to be provided quickly; and for veterans to receive the highest quality of care.
• Pray that the Lord would use Mr. Collins and his remodeled VA to show the nation how to honor veterans as they deserve.
• Pray for Secretary Collins to have boldness to speak the truth and defend veterans.
• Pray for him to have great wisdom in this role.
• Ask the Lord to reveal and expose any fraud or waste within the VA—and that Mr. Collins and his team will fix any fraud or waste that comes to light.
• Ask the Lord to give Mr. Collins great discernment in knowing where to look, what to cut, and what to keep.
• Pray that the Lord would put a hedge of thorns around the MSM, who are hounding Secretary Collins, the general public, and the VA with misinformation and fearmongering. Ask the Lord to make any bad actors hit up against that hedge of thorns if they even try to cross the line into sin. (See Hosea 2:6.)
• Pray that the general public would know the truth, and that the truth would make them free.

Every man and woman currently in office needs our prayers, but Mr. Collins may need more than his fair share of prayers. 😊 He has inherited a difficult job.

However, since Collins is a professing Christian, we can remind the Lord that the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in this brother—and we can petition the Lord to fix the VA, and to use Mr. Collins as His hands and feet to do it.

Would you join us in praying for Secretary Doug Collins today? Please share the prayers that the Lord places on your heart below!

Jamie Rohrbaugh is the founder and CEO of From His Presence, a global discipleship ministry. She has written over 40 books, including The Way Forward: 10 Prayers for Your Journey Into the Promised Land, All Things New, Finding Deep Soul Healing 101, and Healing from Father Wounds. She seeks to equip you to carry God’s manifest glory everywhere you go. Her resources have been published by YouVersion Bible Plans, The Elijah List, Crosswalk, and various other ministry outlets. You can find free mentoring and encouragement on her website or YouTube channel. Download her free prayer tool, 25 Prayers That Will Build Your Life, here. Photo Credit: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for SiriusXM.