Mobilizing voters is a big focus of this election cycle. Mobilizing prayer is the priority of a Colorado group.
The fourth annual Pray for America Bus Tour is in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention, after traveling to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention last week. Its final stop is Saturday in Washington D.C., to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the country's national motto: "In God We Trust."
Organizers approach prayer from the Judeo-Christian perspective, and this year the emphasis is on praying for government leaders.
Dion Elmore is the chief communications officer for Colorado Springs-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, which organized the tour. The task force's chairman emeritus is Shirley Dobson, the wife of James Dobson, who founded the Christian conservative institution Focus on the Family. The National Day of Prayer Task Force says it is a separate entity and currently has no affiliation with Focus on the Family.
Elmore spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner. Highlights from the conversation are below.
On politics, prayer and praying for government officials:
"We have believers who are both from a Democratic and Republican background. We're not standing for a candidate. This is not about politics. It's about the process. ... People try to turn all of this into a political focus, and it's really not. It's about whoever is [in office] regardless of whether you love them or don't, you need to pray for them because they're in authority. ... So regardless of the brand people brand themselves with -- whether it's Republican, Democrat, independent, Libertarian, whatever other groups are out there -- the prayers that we're rallying are whoever it is that's in authority that they would govern righteously."
On what they've prayed for on this tour:
"The first day we were in Cleveland we rallied with about 100 churches of various denominations in a former Catholic church. They were having a 24-hour prayer time there. And what they were praying for was peace in the city because there were a lot of reports of people threatening demonstrations and civil unrest, things that would happen. ... This is not just about the national. We're praying for local, state and national government. The next day, we got on the bus and stopped at points and we prayed for police officers. ... In Philadelphia, it's been the same thing."
On how he thinks prayer works:
"God is not a coin-operated machine. So you can't mechanize the process. You can't just put a prayer in and hope that the result will be what you've requested to come out. What the scripture teaches is that we pray in accord with God's will. Well, how do you know what God's will is? He reveals it in his words and... the Ten Commandments, for example, is a guideline of how God answers prayers. I often use that. It addresses our relationships with one and another."
More: "Pray For America Bus Tour" blog
Related: Former Senator Bill Armstrong Blended Conservative Politics And Evangelical Christianity
