Anne Graham Lotz On Who She'll Support in the 2016 Election

The daughter of evangelist Billy Graham is speaking out about the presidential race and who she will support.

"I said that whoever was the Republican presidential nominee I would vote for, and it looks like it may be Donald Trump," Anne Graham Lotz, the founder of AnGeL Ministries, told CBN News. "So I would find it difficult to vote for a Democrat at this point because of the platforms so I will vote for whoever the Republican nominee is."

Watch Anne Graham Lotz speak with CBN News about the power of prayer, the 2016 election, and how God can use anybody.

Lotz says God can use anybody, and she points people to the rulers during the time of the prophet Daniel.

"Daniel was a man who lived under four world emperors -- none of whom were children of Abraham, none of whom were members of God's family -- but God used all of them... all four ended up giving praise to the God of Daniel because of what they saw in Daniel's life," she explained. "The first one was Nebuchadnezzar, and God actually refers to Nebuchadnezzar as 'my servant' in the Old Testament." 

"So my feeling is whoever is the Republican nominee, whoever gets into the Oval Office, and if it's a Democrat or a Republican, whoever is in that position of power, I feel like we need to pray for that person because Nebuchadnezzar was somebody who was wicked, he was evil. God used him in an incredible way, but in the end, Nebuchadnezzar gave glory to the God of Daniel, and his life was changed," she continued.

Lotz told CBN News that evangelicals need to rethink their mission.

"Anybody... is redeemable... our mission is not to change the world through the political system; our mission is to present the Gospel, to get on our knees and pray for those who are in leadership positions as we're commanded to do in the New Testament," she emphasized. "So I will be praying -- praying already actually for the candidates -- and I will be praying for whoever is the ultimate candidate and the one who wins the election."

Lotz doesn't agree with those who say Christians should stay home this presidential election and not vote.

"I can't do that; I feel like to be an American citizen, it's part of my privilege and my responsibility to vote," she said. "And that's a privilege that has been fought for and died for and to discard it and throw it away because somehow we don't like this or don't like that... actually it's an offense to me as an American." 

"And I think they're free to do what they want to do, but I believe this nation is a blessing from God; this nation has been a blessing, and who's to say that whoever gets in that Oval Office is somebody that God allows to be there, or maybe God places there because we know the Bible says God raises up leaders, and he demotes others and that nobody's going to be in that position of power unless God puts them there," Lotz continued. 

"And so for us to pray for that person, whoever he is, that God would give him wisdom and understanding, that God would surround him with counselors who would lead him in the right direction. And we need to pray for our leaders whoever they are," she said.

Lotz talks about the importance of prayer in her new book, The Daniel Prayer.

"My prayer... is that when people read this book they will take prayer more seriously," she told CBN News. "And Daniel was a man living in captivity; he had been there 67 years when he came across a Scripture that said that in 70 years God would set his people free, and he just laid hold of that promise, and he claimed it."

"And three years after he prayed that prayer, God moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue an edict so that all the captives could go home," Lotz continued. "So God answered Daniel's prayer, not only immediately by telling him he was highly esteemed for having prayed, but also then answered specifically when he set the captives free."

"And it's a pattern for prayer... that works. It's a prayer that moves heaven and changes nations, and it did in Daniel's day, and there's no reason that it can't in our day if we would get serious about prayer, get on our knees and pray like Daniel did," she said.

*CBN neither supports nor opposes any candidate for public office.