Melissa Joan Hart on Her Family: ‘We Pray Constantly’
Interview by Evy Baehr Carroll, Movieguide® TV Host, and Copy by Tess Farrand, Associate Content Editor
GOD’S NOT DEAD 2 actress Melissa Joan Hart said her family prays constantly.
“We pray constantly. We pray over every meal. We pray every bedtime. We pray on every journey,” said Hart in an interview with Movieguide®.
Hart’s declaration echoes 1 Thessalonians 5: 17, where the apostle Paul says believers should pray without ceasing.
“We pray whenever we someone in the family needs that we pray for people that we know in the world that need it,” Hart continued. “Each night we take a different turn around the table praying and I love when our seven year old just as the funniest prayers, depending on which brother he’s mad at, he won’t mention them or dog instead of his brother. But no, we’re church going Sunday people and we’re Bible study people and, um, we really try to live a life based on what Jesus taught us.”
Though Hart’s recently been behind the camera, she previously starred in GOD’S NOT DEAD 2. Hart felt the project really helped her be more bold about Christ.
“GOD’S NOT DEAD help me talk about [my faith] a little bit more in public. I was raised Catholic, I married a Baptist,” recalled Hart. “Together we became Presbyterian to find some common ground in our religion and we wanted to raise our family and yeah, we are prayer warriors.”
Hart’s faith in Christ has also spurred her and husband, Mark, to encourage her children to value missions. They took their oldest son, who was 13 at the time, with them on a World Vision trip.
“Welefttheothertwoathomemainlybecausethey’rebigeatersandIdon’tthinktheywouldhandlethethetranslationandthedrivesthatwehadtodowayoutintheruralareas,” said Hart. “Butitwasitwasreallyanamazingtripeyeopeningandespeciallyjustbeingabletoseetheworktheydoandstandbehindthemproudlyknowingwherethatmoney’sgoing.”
During this time of quarantine, Hart still helps support World Vision. The MELISSA AND JOEY alum pushes herself to get ready for her video cameos and if she gets paid, she’ll give the money away.
“I’ve also been doing these great little cameo videos, which is this website where you can go and ask people celebrities for like videos for loved ones or for yourself,” said Hart in an interview with Movieguide®. “It’s been it’s been really nice, you know, just helping people cheer up all around the world.”
When Hart’s webcam goes dark, she’s a full-time mom stuck in quarantine. Still, Hart passes her time with puzzles, writing and prayer, a consistent theme in the Hart family.
“[These days] I have been praying hard for my family to figure out where we want to raise our children because we’re really not sure we move around a lot. We’re trying to find a place [because] our oldest starts high school in the fall,” Hart said.
Moving is stressful, even when families aren’t under stay-at-home orders. Hart is using this isolation time to really build strong relationships with her three sons and determine what their next steps are.
“[My husband and I are] figuring out where to raise our family, that we can all be happy and settled and that has taken a lot of prayer, a little bit of counseling, a lot of discussion, a lot of different opinions in our family about where we should end up,” Hart said.
