Were the Election Night Prayers Effective?
How could anyone ever forget the election night of November 8, 2016? It was just as intense as it was gut-wrenching, especially for many Christians in particular. For a significant portion of the nation, here was anxiety, frustration and even fear. It seemed that there was no choice for them except to gird their loins and simply stand. Stand in what was anticipated to become the most fearful moments of Christian persecution that America would ever experience. How could we forget? Apparently many have, if they believed in the power of prayer in the first place, but let us briefly review...
From early that Tuesday morning, the signs for many Believers were ominous. All polls and indications had all but declared Hillary Rodham Clinton to be not only the president of the United States of America, but also the first woman ever elected to the highest office in the nation, if not the world itself! This election cycle was also revealing to many, much of the inner cores of congressional candidates as well as the presidential contenders. For the presidential candidates, things had deteriorated to the point that many voters had decided to vote for the proverbial "lesser of two evils," but even then, there was plenty debate about which as which!
Above all, many constituents were literally stricken with outright fear—they were terrified of the possibility of waking the next morning to the ascension of a President Hillary Rodham Clinton to the center of world power. The presidential candidate nominated by the Democrat Party had already given the nation a glimpse of what she thought about a considerable swath of mainstream America. In one instance, she had referred to those who did not support her as being a "basket of deplorables." This was destined to be the view from the White House for at least the next four years—a class of lower form of American life—beneath that of the "governing class." (An identifier introduced into modern society by former president George W. Bush during the hurricane Harvey concert in Dallas, TX.).
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Even more threatening, candidate Clinton had expressed in various ways her disdain for conservatives, especially evangelical Christians.
It became known that as Mrs. Clinton spoke to the 2015 Women in the World Summit, she declared that "deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."
In spite of all of the hand-wringing and fatalistic outlook streaming from even the most conservative of groups, organizations and pundits, some Christians resorted to one thing that has always been the most powerful we have ever known- PRAYER! To the beliefs of many, a Hillary Clinton administration would have unleashed a period of darkness and unbridled persecution upon the Body of Christ like no other.
How did this happen? First of all, many Christians and Jews still believe that there is power in prayer. Although millions of Believers prayed (and fasted) more than any other in modern times for God's intervention in this election, one excellent example was in the effort and work led by former congresswoman Michelle Bauchmann and the Daystar Christian TV network. Mrs. Bauchmann and the network founders Marcus and Joni Lamb called for an election night period of prayer that started at 8:30 CST. For many throughout the land, things appeared to have been dark with a pending doom, with only a spark of hope that at least the Republican Party would be able to at least hold onto the U.S. House of Representatives.
For that reason alone, many people went to bed having already conceding to wake up hearing the words "President-Elect Hillary Rodham Clinton." However, It is apparent that the Lord our God DID respond! Please read a portion of Congresswoman Bauchmann's explanation on the Daystar Program...
"This graphic that was produced by the New York Times should tell believers and pastors [about] the power of prayer... the power of action, and here it is... a graphic... the night isn't even over... the decision hasn't even been fully made yet about the presidency, and already we know that the glory goes to the God Almighty... the God of the Universe, the Sovereign Lord. He is the One who did this for us!"
Children of the Most High God, remember Romans 8:31..."What shall we then say to these things? "If God be for us, who can be against us?" It is time for us to believe again!
Rev. Melvin L. Johnson has been in the Gospel Ministry for 30 years, and serves as pastor of the Heart of Christ Community Church of Brazoria, TX. He has a B.A. in Religious Education, an M.A. in Christian Counseling and a D.Min. of Theology from the Covington School of Theology in Rossville, GA.
He has authored three books: Junk Food in the Body of Christ, From Heaven to You, and Overcoming Racism Through the Gospel. Overcoming Racism... has been recognized as being one of the most authoritative and scholarly books known today, and has been converted into a post-secondary course of study by the Christian Life School of Theology- Global. Since his days of early childhood, Dr. Johnson has been dedicated to unifying the Body of Christ as according to Jesus' prayer in John 17.
