Dutch Sheets, one of the Trump-supporting “apostles” and “prophets” who have organized a series of events praying for God to create Supreme Court vacancies for President Trump and destroy his enemies, led a livestreamed prayer session for the midterm elections on Tuesday night.
Like the event Sheets organized at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. in February, Tuesday night’s three-hour gathering mixed worship and praise music with prayers for both spiritual revival and political victory in America—with a special focus on filling the federal courts with judges who share their conservative worldview.
One prayer leader declared that God would be this election’s “October surprise”—an end of October “shock wave into the enemy’s camp”—and that by November 6th, “your name will be famous like America again.”
“We declare this is the land of the Almighty God, and we say unto the enemy of our souls, ‘You cannot have this nation,’” said another prayer leader, specifically declaring victory for the U.S. House and Senate.
Sheets is a dominionist who has long taught that the church—the ekklesia—is meant to be a governing body legislating God’s will on earth. He teaches that God doesn’t need “namby-pamby” Christians but warriors who are willing to seize the country for God. A major theme of this week’s prayer session was that America has a national destiny to promote Christianity—and that Christians need to wage spiritual and political war against the forces of darkness that have corrupted the nation’s soul:
It requires the heart of a warrior. It requires an understanding of ekklesia—that we are more than the body of Christ. We’re more than the family. We’re more than the bride. We’re His government. We’re His army. We’re His soldiers. We’re His ambassadors.
As he did in a recent online video, Sheets and some of the other people he brought to the stage to lead prayers focused on getting “righteous” judges in place. “We’re gonna see the court continue to be transformed,” said Sheets. “Not gonna settle for a 5-4 majority. Gonna go for 6-3 and 7-2. Gonna reverse unrighteous laws. Gonna reform a nation.”
Some excerpts from Sheets’ remarks at the “Prayer over the Mid-term Election” session:
We’re gonna decree into the heavens to the powers of darkness, ‘this nation does not belong to you, it belongs to the Lord. And you’re not gonna steal our destiny’ … You know this: Our destiny as a nation is not just to be rich. It’s not to be the strongest, the biggest, the most powerful, the leader – that’s all so that we can do our destiny, which is to be the beachhead, the greatest, strongest voice for the gospel in the history of this planet.
It’s like He brought forth Messiah through the Jews, through Israel, and He entrusted America more than any other nation with trumpeting that message around the world.
Can you imagine what a destiny that is? No wonder the enemy is warring for the soul of this nation. But he’s not gonna win. There’s a great harvest coming, and we’re not gonna allow it to be stolen. It’s not just a harvest in America, it’s a worldwide harvest. And when the Lord mantled me for America 20 years ago, I’ll never forget, one thing He said to me, ‘You must war for this nation. I must have this nation.’ That’s what He said to me. ‘I must have this nation.’
And so he’s raised up a company of warriors in America. …
We decree and command Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done in America. We release as the ekklesia, the church, the ekklesia, the government of the kingdom of God on earth, we release prophetic decrees and we say, the kingdom of God is invading the United States of America. And the will of God is coming.
Other prayer leaders repented on the nation’s behalf for humanism, secularism, socialism, and abortion. Another rebuked the “spirit of political correctness.”
One said that the Lord himself had dispatched his angels to the U.S.-Mexican border. Another prayed that God would “sharpen [His] sword” and execute His judgment on those who tolerate “wickedness” in government.
Sheets’ prayer for the elections session, held at the Kingdom Life Christian Center in Frisco, Texas, was part of the annual leadership conference of the Federation of Ministers & Churches International. Sheets, who is part of the network’s “Apostolic Leadership Team,” referred to FCMI leaders Jim and Jean Hodges as his spiritual father and mother. Sheets spent half an hour asking for donations for their ministry.
As part of its statement of faith, FMCI encourages visitors to its website, “For a more comprehensive statement on the Kingdom of God, we recommend the Coalition on Revival document on the Kingdom.”
The Coalition on Revival is a group that brings together Christian Reconstructionists with other conservative Christian activists with the goal of “rebuilding civilization” according to a “biblical worldview.” Its “Articles of Affirmation and Denial on the Kingdom of God” says, “We believe America can be turned around and once again function as a Christian nation as it did in its earlier years.”
“We deny that anyone, Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, private person or public official, is exempt from the moral and juridical obligation before God to submit to Christ’s lordship over every aspect of his life in thought, word, and deed,” says the document. It also asserts that God’s intention “includes the increasing manifestation of His rule over individuals, voluntary associations, families, the church, the state, and all spheres of human activity, some of which are law, government, economics, business, occupations, education, sports, medicine, science, technology, arts, and media.”
