An estimated 4,000 people heard the name of Jesus Christ proclaimed in a prayer for the Memorial Day Ceremony at Houston National Cemetery.

"While respecting the people of every faith today, it is the name of Jesus Christ the risen Lord that I pray, amen," said Scott Rainey, lead pastor of Living Word Church of the Nazarene in Houston, Texas. 

The audience responded to the prayer with a minute-long standing ovation.

"I knew they weren't cheering and standing for me," Rainey said. "I just want God to be gloried in all of this."

His prayer was during the middle of the ceremony, but it signaled the conclusion of a long battle for Rainey. 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees national cemeteries, had asked Rainey a few months earlier to remove the reference to Jesus Christ from his prayer or face exclusion from the Memorial Day ceremony. 

At first, the request made him upset, but he decided to leave it in God's hands - something he had done since he agreed to be one of three ministers to pray at the event.

"When I was asked to pray three months earlier, the Lord directed me to include the Lord's Prayer," Rainey said. 

He wanted to invite people to pray along with him without a hint of obligation.

Rainey felt good about God's direction, and he felt good about the ceremony because he had participated in the event before.

"I knew, though, something wasn't right when she, the director of the cemetery, asked me to submit my prayer in writing," he said.

Upon receiving the prayer in writing, Houston National Cemetery Director Arleen Ocasio asked Rainey to make his religious overtones more general by removing "Jesus Christ" from his prayer. 

"I could have said, 'I can't pray then' in silent protest, but as I prayed about it, God laid out a plan for me," Rainey said. 

Attorneys with the Liberty Institute heard about Rainey's dilemma and asked if they could file a lawsuit on his behalf against the government. Liberty Institute is a nonprofit organization based in Plano, Texas, that tackles legal issues impacting Judeo-Christian principles in the U.S.

"I'm not a lawsuit-happy person," Rainey said. "I reflected on it. I knew God spoke to me about what to put in my prayer; I wanted to glorify Him."

He wanted to respond in a Christlike manner and try to keep the issue out of the courts. Instead he asked the attorneys to construct a six-page letter outlining reasons why Veterans Affairs should allow him to pray his original prayer. 

The letter was sent to Ocasio and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in Washington, D.C. The response was less than favorable: No. 

Running out of time, and after praying for guidance, Rainey decided to take the issue to federal court.

Jeff Mateer, general counsel for Liberty, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking a temporary injunction against the cemetery and the federal government. 

Rainey was unprepared for the media storm. From early in the morning to late at night, Rainey took calls and received emails from the media, supporters, and opponents for the next 48 hours.

"It was never part of my intention to involve the media," he said. 

His actions centered on his Christian beliefs and his right as an American to pray in public without government censorship, he said.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes issued a temporary restraining order against the national cemetery and Veteran Affairs last Friday, ruling the censorship violated Rainey's First Amendment rights. He wrote in his decision that the government cannot dictate the content of speeches "whether those speeches are denominated prayers or otherwise."

"The government cannot gag citizens when it says it is in the interest of national security, and it cannot do it in some bureaucrat's notion of cultural homogeneity. The right of free expression ranges from the dignity of Abraham Lincoln's speeches to Charlie Sheen's rants," Hughes said.

An indisputable fact in the case was a nonprofit organization sponsored the event, not the government. Veteran Affairs censorship of the event was the same as the government censoring two people's conversation on a public sidewalk, Rainey said.

The Department of Veteran Affairs declined an interview for the story, but referred to a statement it released last week. 

"Our national cemeteries are places for all veterans of all beliefs. We cannot be exclusive at a ceremony meant to be inclusive for all our nation's veterans. Due to ongoing litigation, we cannot discuss this matter further," Ocasio said.

The constitution guarantees that a pastor has a right as a private citizen to speak freely without government censorship, Mateer said.

"Our veterans fought and many died for our religious freedom and to have it stripped away under the façade of inclusiveness is the height of offense to those who have served our country," he said.

As fast as the media storm developed in Houston, it quickly dissipated. Mateer and Rainey had a press conference after the judge's ruling that morning and did a few interviews afterwards.

"By one o'clock that afternoon, the phone stopped ringing," Rainey said.

He welcomed the respite, especially with Sunday less than two days away and the ceremony on the following Monday.

Although the media attended the Memorial Day ceremony, Rainey wanted the day to be about the Lord and the veterans. He declined the media's request for an interview at the ceremony.

Almost 48 hours of his life was turned upside down, but Rainey knew God had a plan for him from the beginning. God revealed his ultimate goal as Rainey reflected on the event. 

"Instead of me praying in front of 3,000 people, more than a million people heard my prayer," Rainey said.

His prayer was broadcasted on television, posted on the Internet, and repeated in newspapers throughout the U.S.  

He expected some backlash at the ceremony, but none came. Veterans and their families expressed their support as did other speakers at the event. 

"On that day, I didn't have one person say a negative thing to me," he said. 

An irony is the national cemetery itself - crosses adorn about 95 percent of the thousands of gravestones. 

"For someone who wants to remove Jesus from the cemetery, it must be awful hard to look at each day," Rainey said. 

Rainey wants no ill will between him and Veteran Affairs. He even wrote a letter to the Director Ocasio, thanking her and her staff for "doing a good job with the event." 

Mateer is pursuing additional allegations his team discovered in the case against the cemetery, but plaintiff Scott Rainey is done with the case and the limelight. 

Although the issue caused him a lot of stress, Rainey's glad he followed God's will. 

"If you allow the Lord to take you through difficult times, then He can work it out to His ultimate glory."