A “prophetic” blogger declared this week that God told her that President Donald Trump would win reelection in 2020 as part of a divine plan in which “the destiny of the United States of America is intertwined with the unfolding of God’s end-time plans on the earth.” The post was written by Australian Katie Barker and distributed by the Elijah List, an email newsletter that says it shares “prophetic” dreams and proclamations with more than 240,000 subscribers.
“Great will be the spiritual battle in leading up to this election, but My people will see the one I have chosen re-elected as they partner with Me in intercession,” Barker said God told her. “I am calling the people of the United States to see My hand is on this administration,” he said, according to Barker. God even worked Trump’s campaign rhetoric into his message to Barker, saying, “I will use this administration to make America great again by having it return to its foundations and the mandate it has been given by Me.”
Conservative Christian media is filled with “prophetic” authors claiming that Trump was anointed by God and that his administration will help spark a great spiritual revival and even speed the return of Jesus Christ. The Elijah List brags, “More than a year before President Trump was elected, this ministry was publishing and prophesying that God had chosen him to lead this country.”
Holly Watson, another “prophetic” blogger promoted by the Elijah List declared this week that God told her that those aiming to “destroy what I set in place through My Hand and by My power” are “succumbing” to divine power. Like many “prophetic” speakers, Watson says that revival is coming to America:
I heard the Spirit of God say, “I am calling you back to the roots of who you are. I am calling you to build new foundations on what I created you for since the beginning of time.
“Be not weary, Beloved, in well doing. The time has come for all people to lift up their heads and raise their voices as a shout of praise across this land. A new era is upon us. Yes! A new era and a new time where the crosshairs holding this nation captive will fix their eyes on Me and depart from wicked and evil doings.
Watson’s post does not explicitly mention Trump or the 2020 election, but according to her message, God’s voice is “awakening the earth, and, yes, even the governmental systems of this land.”
“Lift up your eyes, I say, and look to the west, for from the east to the west I am opening the eyes of the double minded to cause a ‘swing vote’ to erupt in My favor. This ‘swing vote’ will cause the pendulum of injustice to hear the sound of My gavel reverberate across the land.
“A new day is dawning, Beloved. An hour of reprieve is upon you, America. The little foxes spoiling the whole vine are being washed away as the cleansing of My house appears – cleansing far and wide – a cleansing present and near.
…
“Pay no attention to the nay sayers, for I am reviving the dry bones of the land with the fresh wind of My resurrection power. I am re-instating the army of the Lord for carrying a distinct sound specific to this generation. I am awakening the nation through a rattle and a ‘yes’ through the noise. I am marking the landmarks of cities with the earmarks of a modern day revival. I am setting new boundaries in place to usher in new alignments at this hour.
In Watson’s telling, God even appropriated the Woody Guthrie classic, “This Land is Your Land.”
“Get up now from your weary place and shake the dust from your feet, America. For you are My land. You are My land from the state of California to the New York islands. You are My land from the Redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters. You, America, belong to Me. You are a jewel in the crown of your forthcoming King.”
This repurposing of “This Land is Your Land” is notable, given the song’s history. The progressive populist lyrics were written by Guthrie in irritated reaction to the ubiquitous radio play being given “God Bless America.”
Elijah List’s bloggers are far from the only Trump-supporting Christians who view Trump’s rise to power as part of a divine plan for the nation and world. Similar messages are delivered to religious-right political activists at the Values Voter Summit, to readers and viewers of media operations like the Christian Broadcasting Network and Charisma, and through Trump-promoting “intercessory” prayer groups like POTUS Shield, Intercessors for America, and White House adviser Paula White’s One Voice Prayer Movement.
