(RNS) — An online pro-Trump prayer meeting was filled with defiance on Wednesday night (Jan. 6), even as evangelical and charismatic supporters of President Donald Trump admitted that chances the election will be overturned were slim. The prayer time came after a pro-Trump mob violently stormed the Capitol as lawmakers debated certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
Since November’s election, leaders of the Global Prayer for U.S. Election Integrity have organized 30 prayer calls, in which they have aired unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, including several thoroughly debunked allegations of miscounted ballots, while offering fervent prayers for the president.
Trump supporters participate in a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (John Minchillo/Associated Press)
But as members of Congress debated an objection to accepting the certified vote totals from the 2020 election in Arizona, organizers of the prayer call admitted there were few legal options left to oppose President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The Rev. Jim Garlow, the former pastor of Skyline Church, a San Diego megachurch, said the nation was in crisis after a tumultuous day in the nation’s capital.
“This is a critical day,” said Garlow, saying Wednesday might be remembered in the same way 9/11 is remembered.
“I do want to report, this news still in,” he said. “Jesus is still on the throne.”
The Rev. Mario Bramnick of New Wine Ministries Church in Cooper City, Florida, said supporters of the president were like the people of Israel, caught “between the Egyptians and the Red Sea.” Even if God did not save them, he said, “we will not bow to the spirit of the world.”
Religion News Service screengrab as former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann prays during a call for Trump supporters.
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann told those on the prayer call she had been at the Capitol when it was stormed by a mob of Trump supporters. She believed conservative Christian members of Congress had turned against the president.
“The members I was with tonight are angry with President Trump tonight,” she said. “They are spouting the false narrative.”
Bachmann claimed without evidence that “paid rabble-rousers” had stormed the U.S. Capitol and said it was all part of a “coup.”
“Don’t think for a minute that these were nasty, naughty, ridiculous, hillbilly Trump people,” she continued. “That is not what you saw today.”
After Bachmann finished speaking, Christian radio host Eric Metaxas, assured listeners that “God has a plan” before launching into a prayer.
“We need to wake up to the tactics of the enemy who will do anything to win, because there are no values but power,” he said.
Still, he prayed God would use America “for your purposes, Father God.”
