Wednesday prayed for President-elect Barack Obama and anointed with
oil the doorway he will walk through on Jan. 20 on his way to the
inaugural platform.
Republican Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia joined
ministers Rob Schenck of Faith and Action and Patrick J. Mahoney of
the Christian Defense Coalition, both based in Washington, D.C., in
the 10-minute prayer service inside the U.S. Capitol building.
Schenck read from Proverbs 21:1, which says God directs the hearts
of kings, and from 1 Timothy 2:1-4, which admonishes Christians to
pray for those in authority. He then rubbed oil imported from
Jerusalem on the doorpost of the arched walkway to consecrate it “to
the use of God and His Word.”
“Oil symbolizes consecration, or
setting something apart for God's use,” Schenck said in a
statement. “George Washington used oil during the dedication of the
U.S. Capitol. We used oil today to set apart the walkway and doors
that will be the literal right of passage for Barack Obama as he
ascends to the highest office in our land.”
Broun, a Baptist layman who was widely criticized during the
election for calling Obama a Marxist and likening him to Adolf
Hitler, said he hopes Obama is successful as president and that he
will heed God’s direction.
“It’s important for us to pray for this
place, but it’s also important for us to pray for the people who
are involved so that God, as He stirs our hearts, that we can hear
very clearly and that we can heed God’s directions and can follow
those directions,” Broun said. “Because that’s what’s going
to make the nation successful, that’s what’s going to put this
country back on the right course is our listening to the Lord,
reading His Word, understanding what God expects of us and what He
wants of us so that we can follow in obedience.”
Mahoney, who is on a 21-day fast for Obama, read an inaugural
prayer Billy Graham delivered 40 years ago and prayed that Obama and
his family would experience God’s presence and power as they move
into the White House.
A video of the prayer service can be viewed
here.
