An Alabama pastor asked his congregation on Sunday to pray against the witchcraft that he said is attacking President Donald Trump, and the sermon is getting a lot of attention on social media.
"It's time to pray for the president," said Pastor John A. Kilpatrick, who founded the Church of His Presence in Daphne in 2006.
Kilpatrick quoted 2 Kings 9:22, which attributes witchcraft to Jezebel. "When Elijah faced Jezebel, he was facing witchcraft," Kilpatrick said.
"What's happening right now in America, is witchcraft's trying to take this country over," he said. "It's witchcraft that's trying to take America back over."
A video of the sermon that highlights the mention of witchcraft against Trump has more than 100,000 views on social media. The entire sermon can be viewed on the church's web site.
Kilpatrick, an Assemblies of God minister, is best known for being pastor of the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola when it hosted the Brownsville Revival, also known as the "Pensacola Outpouring." More than four million people attended the Christian revival from 1995-2000. Kilpatrick left Brownsville in 2003 and started his own ministry. The Assemblies of God is a Pentecostal denomination with about 3 million U.S. adherents and 64 million worldwide that believes in the modern-day spiritual gifts of healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues. Church of His Presence is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
"I am not being political, but I don't see how President Trump bears up under it," Kilpatrick said in his sermon. "He is as strong as I've ever seen a man be. But here's what the Holy Spirit said to me last night and what He said for me to tell you. He said, 'Tell the church that so far, Trump has been dealing with Ahab. But Jezebel's fixing to step out from the shadows.' That's what the Lord said to me.
"He said, 'Pray for him now, because he said there's about to be a shift, and the Deep State is about to manifest, and it's going to be a showdown like you can't believe.' So, I'm coming to you as a prophet, as a man of God, and I'm telling you, it's time to pray for the president."
The congregation applauded.
"Witchcraft was in full control and witchcraft was what knocked Elijah out of his position, took him out of power," Kilpatrick said. "Oh my God. I heard the Lord say there's going to be an attempt to take him out of power. Let's stand and pray right now."
He then began speaking in tongues, and added, "We've got to pray for this man."
He spoke in tongues more, and shouted out, "God make him bold, make him strong! Preserve him, Holy Spirit! Keep him, Holy Spirit! Preserve him, Holy Spirit! Don't let him lose his voice! Make him stronger than ever, Holy Spirit! Let no weapon be formed against him that will knock him out of power. Strengthen him, Lord! It's time to pray, church. I believe our nation is in the balances."
Kilpatrick, in an interview with AL.com today, said he voted for Trump in 2016 but said he's not a Republican. "I'm an Independent," he said. "There's so much about the Republican party that's offensive now. Both parties nauseate me. It's not a Democrat thing, or a Republican thing. Trump has his faults. I don't believe he's a man of God. But he may be God's man for this time. He's a strong person. Maybe the Lord has risen him up to keep American from sliding further. He's a flawed man, just like anybody else. He's trying to reverse things in America."
That's the message he was trying to convey in the biblical analogy for Trump, he said.
"This president has been under pressure, in an Ahab-like situation," Kilpatrick said. "When you graduate up to the main power broker, that's Jezebel. I really do feel this way. His greatest attack is yet to come. It's all a culmination."
He wasn't talking about a specific person who is a witch, he said.
"It's not a witch after him, it's a spirit of witchcraft trying to muzzle him," Kilpatrick said.
Kilpatrick said he was not trying to tie in to Trump's frequent complaint of a "witch hunt" in the special investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
"He calls it a witch hunt," Kilpatrick said. "I didn't put those together. It's just a spirit of witchcraft. I'd say the source of it is evil. It's manipulative, it's controlling, it has its own agenda. I think it's just a strong spirit of manipulation and control that doesn't want to give it up."