Dave Kistler: There have been times in history when spiritual awakenings have spawned political awakenings. There have equally been times when a political revival has been the facilitator for spiritual revival. Well ladies and gentlemen, that statement was made by historian, educator, former pastor and 34-year teacher of history, government, and economics, a gentleman that I know well because he’s my twin brother, Dan Kistler. The point he is making I think is one that needs to be made and is a powerful poignant point in light of where we are in America today. Without doubt, we’re living in a unique time, both nationally and globally. Under the current U.S. leadership, America has turned from a global emphasis to a national one, rather than doing what benefits other nations and sometimes even our enemies.
We’re now being led by those who seek America’s wellbeing. Instead of cow tailing to dictatorial tyrants, America now stands up and challenges them with conviction. Of course, that’s illustrated very well in how our President handled the recent release of Pastor Andrew Brunson from a Turkish prison, as well as the way he negotiated the return of American remains from North Korea. Now, all of that I’m sharing with you is simply to say this. America is in the middle of a political shift, one that certainly turned our economy around, but more importantly it’s a shift that’s turning America around from a leadership standpoint around the globe. With that, I want to welcome you to Stand in the Gap Today. I am Dave Kistler and I’m joined today by two people who love this nation as much as I do and they’re thrilled like I am with what we’re seeing happen currently.
I’m going to introduce them in just a moment. While I’m thrilled with the changing political winds that are blowing, such as two conservative Supreme Court nominees with potentially more coming, a thriving economy, unequivocal support for Israel, the aggressive leadership role that is now assumed by our President. While I’m excited about all of that, I want to be honest, what I long to see in our country is a spiritual awakening, a revival that sweeps the length and breadth of our land. Again, my two guests who I’m actually going to call them co-hosts today, because that’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to co-host this program between the three of us. It’s Peggy Nienaber of Faith and Action in the nation’s capital and Keith Davidson of Seedline International. These are individuals who are not strangers to you if you’re a member of our regular listening audience, but they are people who want to see like I do a genuine revival in our nation.
Our topic today is going to be this, defeating the darkness; our most powerful weapon. What I’m talking about when I talk about our most powerful weapon is the implement of prayer. We’re going to talk today about three absolutely critical areas where prayer has proven to be an indispensable component. To launch where we’re going to go today, let me just read this passage of scripture from the book of Ephesians, a well known passage. Verses 10 through 18, which deals with the armor with which we as believers are to arm ourselves. The scripture says this, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Now, ladies and gentlemen, most preachers will stop right there when they’re describing or reading about the Christian armor, but that’s not where the armor stops. Verse 18 says this, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
It’s not just the breastplate of righteousness, it’s not just the belt of truth, it’s not just the helmet of salvation, it’s not just the sword of the Spirit, but one of the pieces of our armor is this implement called prayer. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Again, our theme is defeating the darkness using our most powerful weapon. Peggy, I want to thank you for being on the program. Keith, I want to thank you for being on the program. But I want to go to Peggy first and start with you. Peggy, behind the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, which has been the focus of so much of the nation’s attention and rightly so for the last several days, a man who was held for two years in filthy conditions and horribly treated. Behind all of that is this component of prayer and I know that you know well all the prayer effort that’s gone on behind the scenes in the D.C. area especially to try to get this man released. I’d love for you, if you could, just to talk about that for a second.
Peggy Nienaber: Absolutely. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing and that’s what we do here on Capitol Hill. We had everything from prayer vigils to meetings with state department officials and prayers with them. We’ve had conversations behind the scene which all have involved prayer. There was actually a prayer vigil held at the Turkish Embassy 24 hours before this last time prior to the release. Each time that he was taken back to have a hearing, we had 24 hour vigils and prayers mostly in front of the Turkish Embassy. But we also had Ambassador Brownback, which is Ambassador to International Religious Freedom, who actually was over there when these hearings took place. We held a breakfast here when there was the first ever Ministerial Religious Freedom Summit and that was what we prayed for, when we were here with quite a few leaders from foreign countries. Prayer is essential and we did pray for Pastor Brunson and hopefully we’ll get to do that in person with him as well.
Dave Kistler: Well, I know Peggy you’ve got some things planned. I’m excited about what’s going to happen with possibly him coming right there to the Ministry Center and you being able to pray with him and others being able to pray with him as well. Keith, you and I just returned from the Korean Peninsula, the Northern portion of which is an incredibly dark part of the world. Yet, that darkness is being penetrated by the truth of God’s word and behind what God is doing in the North as well as in the South is incredible prayer effort. That effort found an intense focus in June of 2017 when you, and Peggy, and I were all part of this first ever Korean-American pray luncheon in Washington D.C.
What resulted from that is a lot of things. Not to the least of which is ultimately a meeting our President had with Kim Jong-un in an effort to denuclearize. Now as a result of all of this is this effort, which Keith you and I have been able to be a part of, and that’s getting God’s word onto the entire Korean Peninsula and possibly the reunification of the entire Korean Peninsula. But prayer has been a vital part of all of it. Keith, you’ve been able to witness that. Talk about that for just a second before we have to go to the break.
Keith Davidson: Okay. Sure, [inaudible 00:07:24]. I really am excited. We met with some pastors and of course some laypeople there in South Korea and they’re focused on prayer and believing that God can answer prayer I believe comes directly from their exposure to the gospel, understanding what prayer is, and we have direct access when the temple veil was rent in two. We have direct access to the Lord. I think in that, what they’re doing is they see not just political or economic things in place, but they realize the power of prayer and so they’re seeking God’s direction, God’s leadership, and God’s put people in key positions. I think their concern and love for President Trump even, I think they see him as an answer to prayer as well.
Dave Kistler: Well shortly after the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., penned an amazing letter. In light of our topic today, defeating the darkness using our most powerful weapon, I want to read a portion of that letter to you. Here’s the letter, a portion of it at least. “President Trump could’ve easily sacrificed Andrew Brunson to maintain good relations with Turkey, a NATO-ally. The nation’s strategic location makes it crucial to containing Russian ambitions in the Middle East. The mainstream media still take every possible opportunity to paint President Trump as egotistical and uncaring, but his positive heartfelt actions speak louder than their negative heartless words. Previous American Presidents pursuing the globalist agenda would’ve caved quickly to Turkey given the geopolitical realities of the situation.
“But President Trump didn’t. I know this President’s heart and I know he would never do such an expedient thing. Instead, he did the right thing. That’s because President Trump isn’t just a strong and tough leader, he’s also and a good and moral person. Time and time again we’ve seen from this President when pursuing a successful diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea, President Trump didn’t just seek nuclear disarmament and the normalization of diplomatic relations, he demanded the return of imprisoned Americans and the return of the remains of those who died in the Korean War. On the eve of his inauguration, President Trump gave $10,000 of his own money to a supporter who had fallen on hard times, a FedEx employee named Shane Bouvet. Last year, the President gave $1 million of his personal fortune to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.”
“Since taking office, President Trump has constantly given up his quarterly salary to government agencies and causes in need of funding. With the release of Pastor Brunson, President Trump has once again displayed his moral fortitude. The mainstream media still take every possible opportunity to paint the President as uncaring, but his actions speak far louder then their negative words. But I’m often asked how an evangelical Christian can support a man like President Trump? Well, the answer is simple, I learned long ago to judge people, especially politicians by their actions and not their words. Plenty of Presidents paid lip service to God, but few, if any, have demonstrated a consistent tendency to walk in Christ’s shoes and make the morally correct decisions instead of politically easy ones. I’m proud to call President Trump my friend, and above all, I’m proud of what he’s doing for our country, our countrymen at home and abroad. God bless you Mr. President.” Signed Jerry Falwell Jr.
Now again, ladies and gentlemen, we’re talking about defeating the darkness using our most powerful weapon, which is prayer. There’s absolutely no way, absolutely no way that President Trump could’ve done what he did in this situation with Pastor Brunson apart from the all-powerful weapon of prayer. With that said, the last two months in D.C. have seen the most audacious, demonic, inhumane, inexcusable attack on a family, but not just a family, but on our justice system. Of course, I’m speaking about the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing and the ultimate vote. Somebody who watched that unfold up close and in person is one of our guests on the program today, Peggy Nienaber of Faith and Action in the nation’s capital.
Peggy, I want to ask you this. While most people watched intently to the circus that unfolded around the process, and I’m talking about the protestors, the shouting, the threats, the intimidation, the grandstanding by politicians and the raw emotion of testimony given in front of not just the Senate Judiciary Committee but in front of the eyes of the world. What most could not see is what was going on behind the scenes and that’s the chorus of prayer going up on behalf of the Kavanaugh family, the confirmation process itself, and really the future of our nation. Can you talk to our listening audience a little bit about the prayer effort that was going on behind the scenes?
Peggy Nienaber: Absolutely. I think that all the allegations, any of us are human and when the allegations are put on somebody so strong, and this wasn’t just an easy little thing saying, “You did this little tiny misdemeanor.” This was a huge allegation. Sometimes your mind [inaudible 00:12:52] is totally somewhere else. Every time we had a chance that we saw his family, we saw his daughters, we saw him, when I saw him getting in an elevator after he was talking with Senator Collins, I said, “Well your prayer team is here praying for you,” and he waved and said, “Thank you. I need it.” I think that prayer all around those buildings, prayer in the Senate buildings, and we walk every day the hallways with different prayer groups constantly in and out of the office telling them that. I think prayer was a big deal and he even mentioned that in his speech, that prayer was what he needed. When he forgot about it, it was his own daughter who said to him, “Hey, God is who we need to lean on dad.” That’s exactly what he did and I think that’s what got him through this.
Keith Davidson: Amen. That’s awesome. Peggy, I appreciate your faith. The prayer, I think you’re expressing your faith by your prayer and I really appreciate that in Faith and Action. I would like to ask you a question. How aware was the Kavanaugh family, I know he was and they would catch him different times, but how aware was the family? Then the second part of that, how aware do you think the members of the Judiciary Committee were aware of the prayer going on?
Peggy Nienaber: Okay. I’m going to go to the end of the confirmation hearings and then go backwards, because sometimes you can do stuff from the Hill and you can be around and you can pull teams in, and you both know this, and you think, “Guys, does anybody realize what I’m doing or does anybody notice it?” I was one of the top 10 people invited to the White House to his swearing in because I led the prayer teams and pulled together so many of them. 600 in fact at one prayer rally.
Keith Davidson: Amen.
Peggy Nienaber: Which was a big deal. I just thought, “I got to give all that glory to God.” It was mentioned by not only Senator Lindsey Graham who pulled me aside at a meeting to personally thank me, the same with Mitch McConnell, the same with Senator Grassley. In fact, Senator Grassley invited me to pull a prayer team in at 7:30 every morning the last month of the hearings, that we went into his office each morning at 7:30 with a small group, and the days of the different hearings and testimonies we filled his office with prayer warriors that constantly prayed. We were there from 7:30 in the morning to almost 6-7:00 at night until they shut the building, we were there. The Senate Judiciary Committee was aware of that. They requested it. They sent notes. They thanked us afterwards.
In fact, they personally came into a private setting in the capital right before the last two … The cloture vote and then the final vote. They came in and personally thanked me and all of those folks. Now as far as Kavanaugh, I thought the same thing, “He’s just too much caught up in all of this.” When I went to the White House and I made my way through the line, or through the crowd, I told him what I had done. He goes, “I heard about this,” and he said, “I do want to personally thank you and anybody else. You bring them to me, I’ll shake their hand. I want to thank you.” He said, “It meant the world to us.” His two daughters ran up and did the same thing. I think probably out of all of this, to have his two young daughters thank me was definitely God moving.
Keith Davidson: Wow, amen.
Dave Kistler: Peggy, what you’ve just shared, again, is something that apart from people hearing this on the program today, would never realize that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, allowed his office to be filled with people who were getting on their knees and praying to the God of heaven for his wisdom, his direction, and his protection. Peggy, this happens all across Capitol Hill right now during this administration in unprecedented ways. The media never reports on it, but it’s taking place.
Peggy Nienaber: No.
Dave Kistler: Go head-
Peggy Nienaber: No.
Dave Kistler: I’d love for you to comment on that.
Peggy Nienaber: They don’t. We have a banner hanging from the Ministry Center and we always say, “It’s one Tennessee to two. You always pray for the kings and those in authority. We pray quietly, we pray peacefully, we pray for those that help run this country. It’s important to have that spiritual background, that word of the gospel to each and every one of them. We do not shove anything in their face. We do not go in throwing a Bible in the air to them. We do it very peacefully and quietly and I think over time people have realized, “Wow. They’re not the people that’s standing with blood drawn all down the front of them, or screaming profusely, or the 2,000 people that shut down Hart building.” We weren’t those people, because when that happened, when the Hart building was shut down and no door was open and I went to every door.
Every door was closed. Closed, closed, closed. I kept going around and I looked and saw a police officer that I had given the Officer of the Year Award and I asked him. I said, “I have three people with me praying. Can we please get in that building to pray?” He said, “We need you,” and he took me to the basement and that was how I got in. He knew right then and there. We open our Policeman of the Year with prayer. I think people are realizing that the innocent person coming at them is not … They accept it now and they’re realizing that is what they need more than the person screaming on the end of the corner and that God is what’s moving in these people. I don’t think sometimes they realize it and when they do, their eyes are opened and they’re going, “Oh, holy cow, this is happening. This is why this group is here.”
Dave Kistler: Well Peggy, I just-
Peggy Nienaber: I think that’s why you get invited instead of the others. Yeah.
Dave Kistler: Well, I agree Peggy. I’ve had the same response many, many times on Capitol Hill and just recently I sat with a well known U.S. Congressman. In his office we said, “What can we pray for you about?” He shared some things that he wanted us to petition the God of heaven with respect to. It was an amazing moment. I want to underscore this, ladies and gentlemen, for you. What you are hearing from Peggy Nienaber, from Keith Davidson, what you’re hearing on this program is the reality of what is currently happening in Washington D.C. When you watch the news and you hear division, division, division, it doesn’t mean we don’t have division, we do, but it does not mean that God is not alive and well and moving on Capitol Hill. He is and our appointed elected officials there are understanding with increased awareness just how much they need God’s wisdom and certainly how much they need the prayers of God’s people.
Well years ago, ladies and gentlemen, I made my first mission trip to the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent, one of many trips that over the last 34 years the Lord has allowed me to make. On that trip, we took some very large crates full of scripture to distribute to the Vincentian people. We arrived at the airport in Hickory, North Carolina and when we started checking our baggage in through check-in we had these crates filled with scripture, Bibles, John and Romans’ booklets, and we had not done a thorough job checking the weight limits and every single one of our crates were overweight. The airline checker said we’d have to adjust the crates in some way in order to help them meet weight requirements. What he suggested was, “Why don’t you take some of the Bibles out and put them in your regular luggage. That way, you can get these through.” Well, as we started doing that, of course we were a little bit tight on time. There was a lot of frustration going on. We were struggling to get all this done.
I remember one of the men that was with us said, “You know what Dave we’ve forgotten to do?” I said, “What’s that?” He said, “We’ve forgotten to pray.” We stopped everything we were doing, moved our crates out of the way, our luggage out of the way so other folk could check in. We stepped off to the side when we really, in one sense, probably couldn’t afford the time to do so. But we bowed our heads very privately and very quietly and we prayed, “Oh God, give us wisdom. Lord, this is your word we’re trying to get to the Island of Saint Vincent. The missionaries have been crying for it, so make a way for the word to get through. Amen.” We went back up to the counter and continued, at least got ready to continue our re-assortment of all of the Bibles and the booklets, and the gentleman that was the airline checker behind the counter said, “Hey guys, listen. Why don’t you do this? Just leave everything the way it is, put all the Bibles back in the crates, seal them up, put them up here.”
He said, “Don’t worry about the weight problem.” He said, “I’m going to check them through not just to Miami,” where we would normally have to pick everything up prior to going out of country. He said, “I’m going to check them all the way through to your final destination and everything will be just fine.” Now ladies and gentlemen, I tell you that for this reason. A brief, unnoticed by any human individuals, but powerful prayer meeting changed everything. Friends, I’ve never seen an exception to that, especially when it comes to getting God’s word to a group of people that need it. God always answers those prayers and sometimes he answers them in dramatically powerful ways.
Keith, your ministry is the printing and distribution of God’s word around the world and I know that you’ve seen dramatic answers to prayer myriads of times, just like the situation that I just shared. What I’d love for you to do is just talk about that for a minute, maybe give us a few high points, maybe even with respect to the recent Korea trip or maybe something else, with all the times you’ve shipped the word of God around the world and how God has responded in dramatic ways in answers to your prayers for his direction and provision.
Keith Davidson: Yes, sir. Right? It’s amazing to watch God answer prayer and I guess I like to call it instinctive prayer. If you remember Nehemiah when he went before Artaxerxes, his heart was broken about the walls and so forth. In verse 4 it said, “Then the King said unto me, ‘For what does thou make request?'” That was just an instant time. He’s right in front of the king so he said this in that verse, “So I prayed to the God of heaven.” I think that’s where we need to turn is right to God and we see that take place. A couple things I’d like to share. One, we have a ministry team that goes into Mexico, runs down to the southern part. They also come back up in through the cartel country and so forth. They’re always praying for safety and direction and very sensitive to each move that they make, because you never know when God’s leading. But on the way out, they usually travel the main highway.
It’s the safest highway to travel, but that particular night they got lost. They wound up off on a country road. They were praying all the way in and really concerned and actually afraid for their life. Didn’t know what might happen, kidnapped, or whatever. But the next morning when they arrived at their destination they were listening to the news and that very highway that they had been traveling or would’ve been traveling on, there was eight Americans kidnapped that evening and they would’ve been directly on that road. I sincerely believe that God answered prayer there as well. It’s just kind of that instinctive prayer, be willing to be sensitive to the Lord. Of course, in lieu of South Korea, our trip over, I was just not real sure about what we were going to find, or what the possibilities might be. We were sending that one container and we were meeting new missionaries, new folks. We got some contacts moving into North Korea and some opportunities opening there.
My prayer was that God show us what we can do and so during our time there we talked with the missionaries and what their needs was. We done some strategy meetings, what the possibilities are. I’m very quick to try to make a move on some things that happened and just give it to God. We prayed to the Lord and I sent out a couple messages. As a result from that, we now have almost 300,000 whole Bibles going to be printed for North Korea through another ministry that’s just going to open that door just from a text and a prayer. Then also in the North they’re able to get in some SD cards with the whole Bible on it. They say they can get in through contacts probably about 800 to 1,000 a month and that is just unreal.
I thought, “Well, we’ve got to be a part of that.” I said, “Lord, we would just love to be a part of that. Just give me some direction. What can we do? How can we be a part of that?” I made two phone calls and we’re going to be able to meet the last two months of the year and supply 900 a month for that. You just have to be ready and in prayer. God, I think, is just waiting on us to maybe petition him for these kind of things. But doors are always open, funds are supplied, protection is a key as well. It’s just mainly, I think, have that instinctive prayer. Of course, we’re told to pray without ceasing, so that’s a constant in touch with the Lord in doing those things.
Dave Kistler: Keith, the things you just shared are absolutely powerful. I was aware that about 50,000 Bibles were going to be provided by this one ministry, but it’s now up to 300,000. Ladies and gentlemen, what we want you to do is pray about the opening up of the way for the word and for the gospel to get into North Korea. Peggy, while we were in South Korea we ministered in a variety of churches, interacted with a multitude of incredibly wonderful Korean people. To me, it was amazing how aware they were of all that is going on in the United States of America, but specifically and especially in Washington D.C. I heard repeatedly, and I’m sure Keith did as well, but the churches where I preached I heard from people stating that they were aware of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation situation and that they as South Koreans were praying for that situation in the United States of America. Now I’m curious, during the entire confirmation process and all the prayer meetings that were held in D.C., did you hear from anyone outside the United States who was praying for the confirmation process?
Peggy Nienaber: I did. A lot of people respect the United States and how we handle ourselves with our freedoms, our 1st Amendment rights. The connections we’ve had, just like you made connections, you and Keith with North Korean … Excuse me, the South Koreans when they came over for here, it’s because they respect what we do. They want to see how we do and how we handle things, so when anything happens here that’s of magnitude, and this was of magnitude, all eyes end up on the TV and listening, and we did.
In the meetings that I sat with Ambassador Brownback and a lot of the foreign representatives from one thing or another, also saw this, because the Supreme Court is our main court here. It’s our highest court in this country. I did, through Facebook, through emails, we had folks that even helped us have prayer in different languages so that those in the office may be … People will say, “You only had this group of people and you only prayed for this.” We pray for everyone. We had people of different religions that helped us so that we could cover all bases, but we certainly did hear from people across the country and from outside.
Dave Kistler: Keith, let me go to you before we have to go to the break. Obviously, you’ve been involved in ministry in Washington D.C. Peggy’s been involved for approaching 20 years. My involvement in Washington D.C. goes back almost that long when we did our first crusade on the National Mall in 2002 and ultimately two more and then two crusades in the Pentagon, and now this ministry we have called Hope to the Hill. I’m just going to say it this way and Keith I want to ask you, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination, number one, that we would be involved in anything on Capitol Hill the way that we are currently. But what I also never envisioned is how much currently under this current administrative … Now, it’s always been there.
We saw it vividly during the Bush years. I mean, there was spiritual impact going on during the Obama years. But right now under the Trump administration it’s like all the hindrances almost have been removed. There’s unmitigated access of the scripture of the word of God, of influence of elected officials in the ways of righteousness, and certainly this incredible open door for prayer. Keith, in the years that you’ve been involved in D.C., and really you’ve been involved since we got involved, because you did a lot of the printing of materials for our crusades, have you ever seen anything quite like what we’re witnessing in D.C. right now?
Keith Davidson: No Dave, I haven’t. I’m really excited. I think we’re seeing a proof of 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray.” I think we’re seeing the answer to prayer. Since the election, I don’t know about you or Peggy, but I’ve just been kind of on an upbeat because it’s just a real sense of opportunity, a real sense of revival can be in our nation. I know they’re folks who say, “Well, we have a lot to overcome.” We do, but we cannot underestimate the power of God, nor the power of prayer, because God moves king’s hearts. But I’ve not seen and it seems like the more we’re involved and the more things we do, especially with this South Korean thing, we made that move. It’s almost like our hearts were knit together, our hearts were in tune. We’re on the same page. The Christians we met, we’ve never met them before. We spent almost two weeks there and in that time it’s just like we’re just joined together and we’re all in one in prayer for God’s working and revival in our hearts.
Dave Kistler: Well Keith, you said it well. We’ve never met these folk before in South Korea but they were like family by the time we left.
Well ladies and gentlemen, it was Dr. Billy Graham who said this. “The only time my prayers are not answered is on the golf course.” Of course, he meant that in a humorous way. But we’re talking about defeating the darkness utilizing our greatness weapon and that weapon really is prayer. We’ve talked about how God dramatically answered prayer during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and turned that into something that I certainly believe and I know Keith and Peggy believe is something that’s good for the United States of America, for Brett Kavanaugh to sit on the Supreme Court. We’ve talked about how God has dramatically answered prayer in the dissemination of his word across the globe.
Keith shared some very powerful testimonies of what God has done down not only in Mexico, but also what God has done in our recent trip to the Korean Peninsula. What we want to do in this final segment is talk about how God can use this mighty tool that he has afforded us called prayer with respect to the upcoming elections. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to underscore something. We say it every time we have elections and I think we say it justifiably, so that these are the most important elections in our lifetime. That we’ve never faced a time when elections are more critical to the future of the country and I think we saw that because it’s true. With each election cycle the dynamics involved in the election, the outcome of the election, all of those things are more critical than they’ve ever been. Ladies and gentlemen, if you watched the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, you saw about clearly delineated as it could possibly be two visions for the United States of America.
You heard what Peggy said about the response on the part of the Capitol Hill Police. They’re very keenly aware of prayer teams that Peggy has organized that move out and around the buildings where the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were taking place. They were peaceful people. They were people that didn’t carry signs. They weren’t shouting. They weren’t chanting. They weren’t doing anything like that. They were just bowing their heads humbly outside the buildings and were allowed inside the buildings just bowing their heads and petitioning the God of heaven for his direction, his protection, his wisdom. That is greatly appreciated on Capitol Hill. If that’s what you want in America is that kind of peaceful citizenry, then you’re going to have to vote for people that want that kind of people in America.
If you want the rabid, leftist, blood soaked, blood strained clothing that Peggy described, and there was so much of that that was just grotesque and just absolutely unbelievable. I won’t even go into any further description. But if that’s what you want, the shouting, the chanting, the division and all of that, then you’re going to have to vote for certain people that are fostering that kind of thing. Now why anybody would want to do that, I don’t know. But we want to talk about prayer, because in the next 21 days it’s absolutely essential that we pray and pray earnestly that God gives us people in Congress, in the House, in the Senate, from all across the nation on local levels that we have people that are going to honor God, recognize God, and want the American populous to be able to continue to live a quiet and peaceable life, as the scripture describes it.
Peggy, let me just ask you point blank. You have watched election cycle after election cycle. You have organized prayer events. Going into these vitally important midterm elections, I’m giving you the microphone, turning the pulpit over to you. Talk to the American people, the Christian community especially, how do we need to pray over the next 21 days?
Peggy Nienaber: Absolutely. Voting is not just a political type of act. It is our Biblical witness to the community and we have 35 of the Senate sits that will be open. We have all 435 congressional seats. Over 6,000 state legislators. There’s even seats on the court, state supreme court justices. Any of those seats can actually move up to the Supreme Court here if eventually an opening comes. The act of voting isn’t just because we live in America and we have this opportunity, we want to vote in somebody that has those Biblical values, those family values. Those that can be a Biblical voice of truth and that’s why you want to vote somebody in. Your vote does count. You always have someone that tells you, “That’s not true.”
But advancing religious freedom. We’ve seen how many cases have come to the court, or different cases have been taken away certain freedom, but also where we have won those cases in the last couple of years. We want to vote in somebody that wants to advance religious freedom, somebody that votes for the sanctity of life, and for the sanctity of our family values. Have been all challenged in the last couple of years, so it takes Christians to get up there and to pray about who you’re voting for. Pray that they have these type of … This is what they stand for. You really want to do that. There may be a democrat that you has more of that leaned value, but you’ve got to vote for somebody that’s got Biblical values. It’s very important.
Dave Kistler: Ladies and gentlemen, I think you picked up from what Peggy’s said. Voting is not just a political act, voting is an act of worship to the God of heaven. What we do with our voting is important. Peggy, you mentioned three things. We need to vote for people that believe strongly and want to advance religious freedom. They believe strongly and want to advance the sanctity of human life and we want to vote for people that have Biblical values. We want to vote as Biblically as we possibly can. Ladies and gentlemen, you’re going to have to know what God’s requirements are for leaders if you’re going to vote for people that have those Biblical values. You’re going to have to know what they are. If you read the scripture on a daily basis, you’ll be well acquainted with those. But an excellent admonition.
Keith, I’m going to ask you a question, then I’m going to ask you to do something, because our theme today is defeating the darkness using our most powerful weapon and that weapon is prayer. I want you to conclude the program with prayer. But before you do that, just add to, put a little bit of a exclamation point on what Peggy just shared about religious freedom, sanctity of life, Biblical values. Those are three critical things that we need to be praying that we have in the people that are elected to office coming up in 21 days. Just put a little bit more of an exclamation point on that and then lead us in prayer, my friend, if you would.
Keith Davidson: Sure. Thank you, Dave. I think the key that she hit on was Biblical values. When we were growing up and probably most of the listeners, there were values across the board in schools, and businesses, and everywhere. I mean, even your neighbor had Biblical values and we don’t see that in our time today. We have to vote that direction and it’s not that our faith becomes political, but our political needs to become part of our faith. Because if not, then we’re voting between good and evil and we need righteousness in our nation. If we’re going to be able to do that, then we have to vote that direction. As we heard just a moment ago in the commercial there that only one in four vote, that’s just … That’s almost astounding to hear that. But we need to get out and vote and vote values and not popularity and not things you hear, but what they really believe and what’s a part of their life.
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