Pray now, pray often--fast on election day

From a prominent Colorado Springs minister:

Dawn's note (what a great idea to fast on election day. Let us all fast and pray!)


Due to IRS rules, this letter is from me personally and is not from any

of the ministries I am associated with. (Also because of IRS rules, I cannot

send it to my ministry database and therefore need your help in getting it

out.) Do with it as you see fit, but my desire is that you forward it to as

many praying friends as possible.


October 20, 2008

Dear Praying Friend,

In 2000, I wrote the 2nd most important letter of my life—a call to

prayer for the elections of that year. I’m now writing what may be my most

important letter. I knew the importance of those elections in 2000 was

beyond any in my life up to that point and that the spiritual warfare

surrounding them would be unlike anything any of us had ever seen. That

letter was read by millions of people and I believe millions of them

responded by praying. I also believe the prayers turned the tide.

You may question whether President Bush was the right choice;

obviously, he has made some blunders in his tenure as president. But two

of his decisions alone left no doubt he was God’s choice: Roberts and Alito.

These two Supreme Court Justices have proven critical in the process of

breaking the hold of humanism, death and anti-God agendas that have

ruled the Court for 50 years. I assure you that more devastation—the

shedding of innocent blood, immorality, decay of the family and an erosion

of our godly heritage—has flowed into our nation through that institution

than any other door in America. Many times more. The poison allowed into

America through their decisions is beyond any of our abilities to articulate.

The reality in America is that you don’t need to control Congress or

the White Hose to rule the nation. You only need 5 people – 5 out of 9 on

the Supreme Court. And for decades those who disagree with just about

everything you and I stand for have been in control!

In Bush’s two terms, the process of turning this around began with

the appointments of Roberts and Alito. Now, we win some cases 5-4 and

lose some 4-5. (We barely outlawed partial birth abortion. The vote of one

judge saved thousands of babies from this horror.) We need one more

conservative Justice for a consistent majority, then more to build a strong

majority.

In Obama’s own words, “the next president will appoint at least one,

perhaps two or more Supreme Court Justices.” He’s right. Almost certainly

two or more older, liberal Justices are waiting until after the elections to

retire, in hopes of Obama winning and appointing more liberals to replace

them. And he certainly would. He voted against the confirmation of Roberts

and Alito. So did Biden. And Biden led the fight against Justice Thomas

several years back, another of the 4 solid conservatives. Make no mistake

about it, the two of them do have a litmus test for Supreme Court Justices,

and a major part of that test is Roe vs. Wade. McCain and Palin, on the

other hand, both have very strong pro-life positions. This alone makes the

choice for President simple. To vote for the 2nd and 3rd most liberal

senators (Obama and Biden), both of whom are firmly and blatantly proabortion,

would be unconscionable. Obama has actually said that if he

wins, he would like his first action as president to be the signing of the

Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate every other law against any

aspect of abortion (partial birth abortion, parental notification, etc., etc.).

And with a democratic majority in the House and Senate, pretty much any

legislation he and Biden want to pass will be a slam-dunk. There are many

other unrighteous positions they hold but this position alone makes the

choice easy. If they win this election, it will set America back decades in

the cause of life and the restoration we seek.

Just as many of you do, I too, want to see a first black President, but

not Senator Obama. To allow that noble and godly desire, the economy or

one’s position on the war to trump this issue of life and death for the

innocent unborn is simply wrong. The scriptures teach that if we choose

first to exalt righteousness and turn from evil, God promises to heal our

land (see Proverbs 14:34; 2 Chronicles 7:14). It is righteousness that

exalts a nation, not wealth, prosperity or armies. If we will finish the

process of removing the curses of death and anti-God laws off of America

by electing a president that will continue to shift the Court, God will grace

us with breakthrough in other areas such as the economy, the war against

terrorism, etc. My faith is not in a person, and certainly not a political party,

for the healing of America, but I know God’s word and His ways well

enough to know that our decisions do move Him to action or inaction.

Now to the heart of my reason for writing this letter (I realize I am

“preaching to the choir”—most of you who know or listen to me are

conservative enough to vote for McCain and Palin.) I have not written any

appeals for prayer concerning this election because:

1) others have, and

2) I believe our movement has matured to the point that the prayer

base of the Church is already praying.

But I now feel the need to raise my voice. I am appealing to you to pray for

these elections the next two weeks like you’ve never prayed for any in the

past. Faithfully. Passionately. Boldly. Ask God for His mercy and grace.

We deserve His judgment for removing His influence and authority from our

government, schools, homes and businesses; for the killing of 50 million

babies; for leading the world in the consumption and exporting of

pornography; for passing laws to reject His; etc. But mercy triumphs over

judgment and in His wrath He remembers mercy. In 2000 we actually lost

the popular vote and won the election—talk about grace! Please pray for

this grace to be released again.

But I am also asking you for something more than normal prayer. For

those of you who understand spiritual warfare, I am asking you to also

include this aspect of prayer. There is no doubt that we have entered a

Daniel 10 moment in time: “Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel,

for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on

humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, I have come in

response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was

withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief

princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia’”

(Daniel 10: 12-13 NAS). The spiritual warfare in this election is incredibly

fierce, and just as it was in Daniel’s day, is all about the restoration of a

nation. And also like Daniel, we must keep praying until we win the battle in

the heavens.

In August of this year I predicted that September would mark a shift in

momentum for these elections. This happened with the appointment of

Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential nominee (who is a true Esther in our

generation), but when the economy began its meltdown and the media

ramped up their unprecedented attacks on Palin, that momentum wasn’t

sustained. But we can see it turn again if we approach this battle as the

spiritual warfare it truly is and bind the evil forces involved (see Matthew

16:18-19). The reality is that this election can be the breakthrough we

need to fully shift the Court (and ultimately our nation) or it will be an

immeasurable setback that could take many years to reverse—if ever.

Please understand what I am saying: if we engage in this battle and

do what I am asking—in mass—we will win; if we do not, we will lose. I, for

one, don’t intend to allow the latter. I am in Washington, D.C. now (October

20-22) with Lou Engle and a team of prayer leaders from around the nation

to war for this election. Join us! Lose some sleep, miss some meals—

pray! Pray like never before for these elections. And as you do, involve

yourself not only in petitioning prayer but also in spiritual warfare. Use your

God-given authority over the plans and strategies of satan’s kingdom. Bind

all witchcraft that is working to control the outcome, including occultic

powers that are suppressing truth. Release Christ’s Kingdom rule in every

way the Holy Spirit leads you.

Don’t be deceived and don’t lose hope (if you have to, turn off the

TV.) It is not too late to turn these elections. God is plenty powerful

enough to do so. The real question is will we rise to the level of prayer and

spiritual warfare necessary to release that power. And remember, we don’t

need a majority of Christians who are willing and able to do this—only a

praying remnant. We can do it!

`

Here are some practical suggestions to consider:

1) Fast (a meal a day; a day a week; a Daniel fast; 3 days; 10 days;

TV; etc.) and spend the time praying.

2) Agree in prayer with someone everyday for God’s will to be done.

3) Form/participate in prayer groups regularly. Churches could pray

everyday.

4) Take time in every gathering to pray. (Take 15 minutes in every

service to pray for the elections. Turn an entire service to harp and

bowl style intercession—worship and prayer combined.)

5) Join 2 or more on a conference call and pray for 15, 20, or 30

minutes.

6) Pray on the way to work (and on the way home).

7) Pray before you go to sleep.

8) Pray before church services.

9) Ask God to give you His strategy—He will!

In His grip,

Dutch Sheets