The Christian conservative group the Family Research Council (FRC) is praying that judges don't rule the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional and that the states ratify a federal constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a heterosexual union.

DOMA is the 1996 law that bars federal agencies and the military from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

The law is slowly being chipped away. On Thursday, gay troops filed a legal challenge to the law, joining at least four other federal lawsuits.

Next week, a bill that would repeal DOMA is expected to clear a Senate committee. But the issue is a non-starter in the House, where its speaker, John Boehner of Ohio, is defending the law in court.

“Pray that DOMA will be preserved!” the group's Prayer Team offered in a blog post on Thursday. “May the people elect a president and Congress next November who will pass, and may the states ratify a Federal Marriage Amendment that will protect the definition of natural marriage as found in the Bible.”