The evangelical Christian pro-family organization The FAMiLY LEADER is challenging Christians to spend the next 40 days in prayer in preparation for the Nov. 8 general election.
The FAMiLY LEADER has partnered with dozens of national and state-level groups, including Focus on the Family, Liberty University, the National Religious Broadcasters, and the Christian music group, the Newsboys, to promote #Focus4Forty. Using The FAMiLY Leader’s “If 7:14” prayer ministry’s free app for mobile devices, participants can get twice-daily reminders to pray at 7:14 a.m. and 7:14 p.m.
The If 7:14 ministry derives its name from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which will be the focus of the calls to prayer between now and Nov. 8:
“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (MEV).
The FAMiLY LEADER President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats said his hope is that focusing on prayer will “break down the divisiveness” he says has plagued the contentious 2016 election cycle. He said the culture has been “caught up in the earthly, political battles” and he wants Americans to “think bigger.”
“#Focus4Forty is a deliberate call to the church to ‘think bigger,’ to lift our eyes from the fight and remember our true hope for this nation is not in presidents and princes, but in Jesus Christ, whom the Bible calls ‘the King of Kings,'” he said. “And our sincere belief is that after 40 days of prayer, we’ll all be wiser to choose and choose well when we do enter the voting booth.”
