House conservatives join to pray against political violence

Members of the House Freedom Caucus and others joined with the Family Research Council on Thursday evening to pray against the rising tide of political violence in the United States and to invoke God’s aid for what they described as a broken nation.

Led by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, the group also asked for a blessing over President Donald Trump, wisdom amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, protection for Israel and for truth to prevail.

‘This is a nation that is broken’

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., opened by asking the Lord’s blessing on the U.S. while acknowledging its need amid widespread spiritual brokenness.

Noting God’s faithfulness throughout many American generations, Clyde emphasized “the special trust” passed down through the centuries cannot be preserved without divine help.

“This is a nation that is broken. The people are broken, and we desperately need you, Lord. We desperately need your hand of guidance,” he said. “We need to be unified, but we cannot unify with evil, Lord. It’s just not possible to do that and be true to your Word.”

After praying for congressional leaders and for the shutdown to end, Clyde asked God to uphold the country’s pastors, requesting “great strength and great courage during this difficult time to help turn our nation back to you.”

“Because if our hearts are right, then everything else will be right, as well,” he added.

‘An aura of rage’

Christian author and apologist Frank Turek, a friend and mentor to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who accompanied Kirk on the way to the hospital after he was shot, prayed against a spirit of anger and violence in the U.S. that he described as increasingly irrational and demonic.

“Help us to be peacemakers. Help us to stay on the truth, without being caustic, without being unkind, but help us to stand and reach out to those that oppose us. We’re to pray for our enemies. So that’s what we’re doing here today,” he said.

“We have seen so much violence. There’s an aura of rage about the country. Much of it makes absolutely no sense; it can only be demonic in nature. So we pray it away. We ask you, Jesus, to remove the demonic spirit on our nation,” he continued.

Turek went on to express hope that God has drawn good out of the evil of Kirk’s murder, and invoked Psalm 140 to request divine protection against wicked schemes.

“You allowed it to happen because you allow free will, but you also promise that all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose, ultimately to be conformed to the image of your Son,” he prayed regarding Kirk’s death.

“We know that Charlie’s death was not good, but you brought good from it. We saw the Gospel preached, from the president on down, to more than 100 million people. That has to be a blessing on our nation.”

‘The still small voice’

Reps. Mark Harris, R-N.C., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., offered prayers for President Trump and his protection, with Perkins noting this is in accordance with 1 Timothy 2.

“More than anything, I pray for the continued work of the Holy Spirit upon his life,” prayed Harris, who is also a Baptist minister. “May that still small voice of the Holy Spirit continue to speak into him and guide him moment by moment as he continues to guide this nation.”

After praying for his continued safety and noting what he described as the providential way in which Trump escaped assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, Harris prayed that Trump would be open to wise counsel and God’s guidance.

“We thank you for the president, and we just ask your hand upon him, and that he would not only hear the still small voice, but he would walk in obedience and in faith and in trust in you.”

Echoing Harris, Biggs also prayed for protection over Trump and asked that those seeking his destruction would not succeed.

“Father in Heaven, thou organized and anointed this nation to be a land for those who seek to worship thee,” he said. “We pray that it will continue to be a light of liberty for the world. We pray that thou confuse and confound the enemies of President Trump and those who seek to destroy faith and those who seek to bring people into bondage.”

‘Truth to prevail’

Another who prayed included Jody Hice, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who now serves as a senior fellow at the Family Research Council. He invoked God’s help against the lies that pervade the media, the political realm and elsewhere.

Noting “the world in which we live is so filled with deception in every angle,” Hice emphasized that many of the falsehoods are focused on issues of gender sexuality, and abortion.

“Lord, we just humbly ask you right now for your truth to prevail, and that the hearts of men and women all across this country would be open to the realization that only your ways are ways of truth. We just ask you to open our hearts and enable us to stand unashamedly for that which is good for our entire nation,” he said.

‘God of all hope’

The event concluded with a prayer from Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned retired neurosurgeon and devout Adventist, who acknowledged the dependence of the U.S. on God from its beginning and prayed against forces trying to destroy it from within.

“You have blessed the United States with freedom and opportunity and a rich legacy of faith. You’ve taken us from a ragtag bunch of militiamen to the pinnacle of the world in record time,” he said.

“But we know that all goodness comes from you, Lord, and without you, we can do nothing. We ask for your healing upon the divisions in our nation. Our nation is so strong that it can’t be taken down militarily, but it can be taken down from inside. There are many agents trying to facilitate that.”

“We need you, your wisdom and your guidance for our leaders. Please restore the righteousness in our homes, integrity in our institutions, unity among our people,” he continued, adding an invocation of blessing on Israel.

Citing Romans 15:13, Perkins closed by exhorting those listening to continue steadfast in prayer and hope.

“Be praying for your communities, your neighbors. Pray for the church. The church needs to rediscover its prophetic voice of declaring the Word of God and walking that out in our communities,” he said.

“And so we want to continue to call upon the God of all hope, who has the ability to transform our nation into the nation that we desire to be.”