Anne Graham Lotz Next Chairman of Nat'l Day of Prayer Task Force; Warns God 'Backing Away' From America
Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of famous evangelist Billy Graham, is set to step into the role of chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, and has warned that God is "backing away" from America.
"For the past three years I have felt a compelling urgency to pray," Lotz said in a statement. "As a result my organization, AnGeL Ministries, has offered five worldwide prayer initiatives that have drawn tens of thousands into prayer. So when Shirley Dobson asked me to succeed her as the chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, I was highly honored."
"I believe I'm called by God to those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:1-2)," Lotz added. "I will continue to lead AnGeL Ministries as I accept this new assignment to not only get people into God's Word, but also onto their knees in serious prayer for our nation."
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Dobson had led the National Day of Prayer for 25 years, organizing over 630,000 events and gathering more than 33 million Americans to pray. She said that she is passing on the mantle of leadership to Lotz "after much prayer and careful consideration."
Lotz has followed in her father's footsteps and has become an influential evangelist and author in her own right, and is set to release her latest book, The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations, on May 10.
In an interview with Religion News Service on Thursday, she warned that America is experiencing "confusion, fear, and anger on every level."
"It really is evidence that God is backing way," she said. "We're losing His favor, His blessing, and that is what grieves me, and the answer to that, if that's so, is not a political solution, it's not economics or military or education. The answer is — Joel 2 in the Bible says — to rend our hearts and return to God and cry out to Him for His mercy. I think that's where we are."
The evangelist has made similar warnings in the past, stating on her website earlier in April that God may be purposefully hiding Himself from America in preparation for a coming judgment on the nation.
"Our nation is in a mess. Why? Could it be because America is losing God's blessing? His favor. Could our sin be provoking His judgment? Judgment that is not necessarily in the form of a nuclear dirty bomb, or another ISIS attack, or an economic collapse. But a Romans 1 judgment as God backs out of our national life and turns us over to ourselves," Lotz wrote at the time.
The Family Research Council meanwhile held its Pre-National Day of Prayer event in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, where Tony Perkins, FRC's president, called on Christians to pray and stand up for families.
"There probably has not been a time in our nation when prayer and intercession has been more needed. We know that prayers are always needed," Perkins said.
