Prayer March Exceeds Expectations — and Features a Big Surprise

Surge Summary: Attendance at Franklin Graham’s Prayer March this past weekend exceeded many people’s expectations. Corporate prayer was held at a various spots near the National Mall.  Vice President Mike Pence unexpectedly showed up and joined the proceedings.

by Gary Bauer

I want to get today’s report out early summarizing this incredible weekend.  Meanwhile, we’re busy working on several projects related to the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Friday night, Carol and I joined Rev. Franklin Graham and other faith leaders for dinner.  Graham told us he had no idea how many people would show up for the Prayer March the next day.  He spoke at length about the amount of fear in America from the coronavirus, the economy, racial and other divisions in the country.

But Graham added that if only a few hundred people showed up it wouldn’t be a failure because the Bible tells us that wherever two or three are gathered, God is there.

As Carol and I drove into Washington the next morning, we were heartened to see hundreds of people walking across the Memorial Bridge into Washington, D.C.  I wish every American committed to faith, family and freedom could have seen what we saw as we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial.  The estimates I am hearing are that between 100,000 and 200,000 people attended the Prayer March.

The crowd covered the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (I posted a picture on Twitter and Facebook) and stretched back all along the National Mall.  People began spontaneously singing various hymns, and later Michael W. Smith led the crowd in worship songs.

When Franklin Graham began speaking and announcing the order of events, the crowd began applauding and reacted in ways that seemed surprising.  What they were seeing, completely unbeknownst to Reverend Graham, was that Vice President Mike Pence had unexpectedly arrived.

Pence reminded the crowd about America’s deep religious heritage.  He thanked the audience for their prayers, and urged them to keep praying for our leaders in public office, for our men and women in uniform in the military and law enforcement, for our doctors and nurses, for those grieving and for our country.

After the vice president finished his remarks, the crowd started chanting “Four more years!”

We marched as a group to various locations along the National Mall, including the World War II Memorial, the White House and the African American History Museum.  We prayed at each stop and ended the March at Capitol Hill.

If you missed the Prayer March this weekend, you can watch this replay, courtesy of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge

Originally posted here.

Image: Screen Shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZsPitfq4J0

Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician and activist, who served in the Reagan administration. He later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family. In 2000, he participated in the Republican presidential contest.