Will prayer save the 2016 election?

By Bob Unruh

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On one side is a flamboyant, populist, billionaire businessman who still has not won over many members of his party’s base.

On the other is a career politician with scandals a mile deep who wants to continue President Obama’s “fundamental transformation” of America.

So what’s a Christian to do for the 2016 presidential election?

How about pray?

That’s the plan of a new #Focus4Forty campaign launched on Friday, the 40th day before the election, by the FAMiLY LEADER Foundation.

The Urbandale, Iowa-based group is partnering with Liberty University, the Newsboys, Focus on the Family, National Religious Broadcasters and dozens of others to challenge Christians to spend 40 days in prayer, from Sept. 30-Nov. 8.

Communications Director Drew Zahn said the #Focus4Forty is a work of IF 7:14, a ministry of The FAMiLY LEADER.

Read the history of the attacks on marriage and the family, from the days of Karl Marx and Margaret Sanger to those now pushing for mandatory recognition of same-sex “marriage,” in “Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left has Sabotaged Family and Marriage.”

“For a long time, politicians have used spiritual issues to advance political goals. We’re turning that paradigm on its head. #Focus4Forty is channeling people’s attention on the election to advance a spiritual goal: daily prayer for revival, both at a personal and a national level,” he said.

“That’s why #Focus4Forty encourages people to unite in prayer through the free If 7:14 prayer app. The app sends out encouraging prayer alerts twice daily, at 7:14 a.m. and 7:14 p.m., building that habit of daily prayer that can continue long after Election Day.”

He said the goal is to see “a revived America that honors God and blesses people.”

“But we’re past the point of accomplishing that with politics alone. It’s going to take a heart change. It’s going to take cultural transformation. It’s going to take exactly the kinds of steps God’s people are called to take in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which, of course, is where If 7:14 gets its name.”

That text is, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Zahn pointed out that this election “has been uniquely divisive within the church itself.”

“And it’s so easy to get caught up in the political fray. We’ve been pressured from every angle to choose a side, to align with or against certain candidates,” he said. “But as the church, we need to think bigger than mere politics. Our hope isn’t in a president, it’s in God!

“Yes, civic involvement and voting is critical. In fact, The FAMiLY LEADER also works to get out the Christian vote. But when the church starts to think a politician is our only hope, we’ve lost perspective and are in danger of discrediting our gospel message. #Focus4Forty is a deliberate attempt to invite the church to focus on our REAL hope for America’s future, Jesus Christ.”

Bob Vander Plaats, a key conservative figure in Iowa and CEO of the group, said, “Our hope is that focused prayer will break down the divisiveness that has plagued this contentious election.

“Our culture has been caught up in the earthly, political battles of Election 2016. #Focus4Forty is a deliberate call to the church to ‘think bigger,’ to lift our eyes from the fight and remember our true hope for this nation is not in presidents and princes, but in Jesus Christ, whom the Bible calls ‘The King of Kings.'”

Join the campaign.

 

Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


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