Prayer Warfare?

Convinced the nation is in a "desperate situation," many evangelical Christians are praying that God will intervene in the presidential election recount, and some are even suggesting they shift to prayer "warfare" to prevent voter fraud.

On evangelical e-mail lists and websites, Christian leaders called on followers nationwide to intensify a three-week-long vigil of fasting and prayer for "God's man" to be elected president.

Intercessors for America, a network of evangelicals who pray for politicians, encouraged Christians to pray that "calm will prevail" during the recount, according to Charisma News Service, a Pentecostal news organization.

"Pray against fraud and the appearance of evil...that the Lord would thwart any who would subvert or deceive as the recount progresses," IFA advised.

This appeal for Christians to keep praying is just the latest salvo in a massive prayer war aimed at swaying the contest between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

When they pray publicly, few evangelicals mention specific names, and some don't specify a candidate even in their private prayers, but there can be little doubt that among most white and some black evangelicals Bush is the man.

God "works outside of time," Bishop Wellington Boone said Wednesday during an interview with Religion Today, another evangelical news service.

The Florida recount is just a pause for prayer and repentance, a time "for God to look at which side would be humble enough to plead with Him to get his will done," said Boone, who heads the Fellowship of International Churches.

"Whether you name names or not, God knows what's in our hearts," said Orlando's Sharris Pike, who did entreat the Lord specifically on Bush's behalf.

Tuesday night, when Florida's votes fell into contention, her daughter Stephanie began praying for a proper vote count.

"I wanted with all my heart to pray 'Lord let justice and righteousness triumph and George Bush win.' [But] I do want the man the American people elected to be in. I wouldn't want my man to win by faulty counting," she said.

This election has spurred calls for massive prayer efforts across the nation.

Colorado Springs Pastor Dutch Sheets said he wept harder than he ever knew was possible before issuing a national warning. "If there is not enough prayer, God's person will lose the election and the turning of this nation [toward God] will be drastically delayed," he wrote in a prayer alert released over the internet.

A Minneapolis minister's wife, Tracey Stillman, was quoted as saying a dream convinced her that she, too, must rally evangelical Christian prayer warriors. Her "Pray at the Polls 2000" effort asked people to pray as they cast their votes.

Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer, called for a day of prayer and fasting while urging Christians to remind at least two people to vote Nov. 7.

Last weekend, 1,200 people gathered at Orlando's First Baptist Church for Fasting & Prayer 2000. Nearly 2 million people prayed at an annual satellite, radio, and internet broadcast sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, Mission America, and Woerner World Ministries. The Rev. Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition sent out 70 million voter guides.

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