Christians To Fast Ahead Of US Election

Cissie Graham Lynch, pictured here with Franklin, will vote for Donald Trump, while her father has not openly endorsed any candidate.(Facebook/Cissie Graham Lynch)

Churches across America are urged to hold a national day of prayer and fasting ahead of voting on Tuesday.

The conservative American Family Association urged Christians to join together on Monday evening to pray that God would "heal our broken land". The traditionally Republican-leaning group has previously described the decision as a "wretched" one.
"It is time that we, as Christians, recognise our need to repent of our own wickedness and cry out to the Lord for forgiveness," said AFA President Tim Wildmon in a Facebook post on Sunday.

"We should heed the voice of President Lincoln. He was the man who steered our nation through its greatest crisis, and he knew that God was the only one who could save us," the group added on its website.

It is not clear whether Lincoln was a Christian and he is more often considered a deist or an atheist than a believer.

The call came as Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, completed his Decision America Tour across 50 states. He insisted he was "not telling anyone who to vote for", adding: "God can do that."

Graham's daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, has openly backed Republican Donald Trump because of his promise to appoint pro-life justices to defend religious freedom at the Supreme Court.

Although Franklin has not openly endorsed any candidate he made his priorities clear in his final call before polling day.

"The biggest impact this election will have on our nation is who the next president appoints to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court. This will affect the course of America for decades to come. Right now the court is divided," he wrote.

"The next president will immediately appoint one justice and could appoint several more during his or her term.

"If liberal, progressive judges are appointed, our religious freedoms and our standards of morality will be under attack, and the consequences for America will be grave."

He also encouraged voters to not "overlook the second person on the team and what his values are". Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence is seen as a more palatable choice than the New York billionaire to many evangelicals.

Clinton's running mate is a Catholic but has supported abortion in public policy even if he disagrees privately.

"We need a Christian revolution in America," Graham wrote, asking followers to pray for the victor "no matter who wins".