Video Shows ‘Prosperity’ Preachers Kenneth Copeland, Paula White Laying Hands on Donald Trump for Presidency
NEW YORK — What
do Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Jan Crouch, Dr. David Jeremiah and
Robert Jeffress all have in common? A video has surfaced online showing
the men and women, along with others, laying hands on Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump this week and praying for his
potential presidency.According to reports, an estimated three dozen spiritual leaders from across America met with Trump for over two hours at his Trump Towers on Monday, providing advice. Those in attendance included a number of nationally-recognized televangelists and prosperity preachers, including the aforementioned Copeland, Crouch and White, as well as TBN regulars Jentezen Franklin, Steve Munsey and Clarence McClendon.
The meeting concluded as many of those gathered laid hands on Trump and prayed for God’s wisdom and favor on the candidate—the last few moments of which was captured on camera. He was flanked by White on one side and Jeffress on the other.
“Father, we just secure him right now by the blood of Jesus. We thank you that no weapon formed against him will be able to prosper and any tongue that rises against him will be condemned according to the word of God,” White, who leads New Destiny Christian Center in Florida, prayed as she touched his arm. “Even as we lay hands on him right now, let Your hand be laid upon him. Let him have a greater encounter with You, a greater encounter with the spirit of God.”
Kenneth Copeland, who leads Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Texas and has come under criticism for his health and wealth teaching, asked for wisdom for the candidate.
“[W]e ask you today to give this man your wisdom, boldly. Make sure and certain that he hears You. Manifest Yourself to him,” he prayed. “And we thank You and praise You for a bold man, a strong man and an obedient man.”
“Donald Trump, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance and give you His peace,” he declared.
David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California also participated in the prayers, asking that the next president “will help us economically and spiritually, and in every way.”
“So today we pray for Donald Trump,” he said, as the others in the room joined in agreement. “We pray for his family. We pray for his associates. We pray that what he has heard today from those who have spoken into his life, he will consider.”
“Lord, whatever it is that You are going to do to bring around him the right people as he moves forward in this campaign, we ask you to give him direction and give him hope,” Jeremiah continued. “And Lord, thank you for allowing us to be here for this special moment. Perhaps we’ll look back on this day and remember that we stood together and we prayed for the next president of the United States.”
But not everyone is happy to hear about the meeting. Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that he was concerned that out of all of Christianity, billionaire Trump seems to be attracted to prosperity preachers.
“The people that Trump has so far identified as his evangelical outreach are mostly prosperity gospel types, which are considered by mainstream evangelicals to be heretics,” he told Politico.
“Trump seems to be positioning himself as a secular version of the health-and-wealth televangelists,” Moore continued. “What Donald Trump is doing in terms of promises for the future is very similar to what’s going on among these prosperity gospel hawkers.”
