"Prayer is the Most Powerful thing you Got." Thoughts on The Trump Prophecy

Make Your Life Great Again: Three Take Aways from The Trump Prophecy

Directed by: Stephan Schultze

Spoilers

           A curious event transpired recently in my life. It was an event I could hardly fathom. On Tuesday night I was racing through the halls of a local movie theater trying to make into to a film for which I was already five minutes late. I found the theater at the end of the hall, sat down in a seat and began taking in a film which I had not imagined I would see on the big screen (let alone at all). There I sat watching a film created in part by Liberty University's cinematic arts department, a film about our current United States president, Donald Trump, and why the United States should pray for him. I watched director Stephan Schultze's The Trump Prophecy.
           Despite the film's low budget quality and the less than pristine pacing present in the film's editing and narrative structure, I had a good time watching this film. The Trump Prophecy is based on the story of Mark Taylor, a firefighter who received a divine prophecy that Donald Trump would become president, and Mary Colbert, a woman who believed Mark Taylor's prophecy and started a prayer call comprised of prayer warriors all asking the LORD to bless Donald Trump with the U.S. presidency. This story and the events that followed it have been recorded by Mark Taylor and Mary Colbert and printed in their book titled "The Trump Prophecies." I knew of the book, but I had no idea about what the story was. I am surprised that after experiencing this story in a theatrical setting, I liked the film and my experience with it. I entered the theater out of curiosity, however I left the theater with conviction. The Trump Prophecy offers an experience that made three things known to me. The following are my three take aways from The Trump Prophecy which if considered can make one's life great (again):

1. The Devil wants to Destroy God's Chosen, but he will not Prosper

The Book on which
the film is Based

           In the film, after Mark Taylor, played by Chris Nelson, retires from being a firefighter he begins having nightmares. In his sleep he sees a fiery beast trying to burn him and close his mouth. Even during the day, the beast chases down Mark and pounces upon him (signified considerably well in the film as the camera looking down upon Mark and chasing him, as if it were the beast's distorted perspective). Mark's wife, Mary Jo Taylor, played by Karen Boles, sees her husband in agony and begins praying for peace and protection for him from the Devil's agents. As Mary prays Mark wakes up and tells his wife he felt the beast grabbing his throat. Mary tells him she believes the beast was trying to stop Mark from saying something, and later on Mark receives a prophecy from a voice of Heaven telling him Donald Trump has been chosen by God to be the next president of the United States. Mark wrote this down in 2011, before Donald Trump announced he was running. Mark knows this is something he has to say and tell others, but he is still under attack by the beast. As Mark sleeps having received what he would refer to as "The Commander in Chief Prophecy," he once again has a terrible nightmare wherein the beast attacks him again with fire. This night, though, Mark prays and believes God will defend him and send back the beast. Mark then writes God's words against the beast, specifically writing Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon formed against [me] will prosper." These words provide Mark with protection from the beast, and in Mark's prayers and his belief in God's scripture the beast vanishes. In the same way the beast tried to keep Mark from speaking his prophecy and tormented him in his sleep, the Devil and his agents want to destroy the lives of those who serve the LORD. The Devil and his army, however, will not prosper against God's army or stop His will from being done. God has won against Satan, rendering him powerless before those who call upon the LORD and live by His words.

2. Prayer is the Most Powerful Thing We can Do

           Perhaps some audience members will feel this interpretation of The Trump Prophecy's depiction of the Devil and God is taken too literally and the film should be treated as a work of fiction. What if audiences looked at the film as a work of fiction designed for the purpose of teaching them a moral? In this case the story presents a narrative concerning the power of prayer. After Mark writes down the prophecy he received, he gives it to a woman by the name of Mary Colbert, the wife of Mark's therapist, Dr. Don Colbert. When Mary, played by Paulette Todd, reads the prophecy, she believes it is true, and asks God how she should proceed. She calls her son D.J., played by Andy Geffken, and he tells her to read 2nd Chronicles chapter seven verse 14, which reads, "If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Mary is then told she needs to start a prayer call for Donald Trump, so that God will bless him and make him president if it is according to the LORD's will. Mary then begins contacting people and eventually forms her own prayer call team. She prays consistently. During one of the film's funnier light hearted moments, she prays while she is on the phone in an airplane's restroom and everyone within earshot can hear her. She knows full well that they are chuckling at her enthusiastic "amens" and her high octave "hallelujahs," however she does not mind. She knows that when God's people humble themselves,  pray, seek God's wisdom and reject wickedness and sin, then God will heal their land. Mary wants the LORD to bless the United States abundantly, and she knows that as a God fearing Christian she must pray in order for it to be done. Prayer is important and it is powerful. Even Chris Pratt, 2018's MTV Generation Award winner, knows that people should "learn to pray. It's easy, and it is so good for [anyone's] soul."

3. Anyone can be Diligent and Finish Well, if they Persevere

Liberty University students working on
The Trump Prophecy (photo cite)

           Perhaps considering this film as a solely fictitious narrative designed to teach audiences about the importance of prayer, is still something with which audience members are not comfortable. Perhaps this film should be examined as nothing more than a film that may or may not have a definitive purpose or meaning. When The Trump Prophecy is examined in this way, it can be seen as a piece of finished cinematic work. This film was primarily created by the work of school students at Liberty University. According to the school's news, these cinematic art students have "celebrated a major milestone in their careers, before they even graduated from film school." They created a feature length film. The Trump Prophecy was created by the production company ReelWorks Studios in partnership with Liberty University's cinematic arts team. The students involved had hands on experience working on a film and finished the production while they were still in college. From filming an action packed fire rescue scene at a burning house to creating works of special effects showcasing a human flying out of his body and towards a flaming beast that can burn through walls, making this film was no easy task. Still, these students finished it and their feature length film was showcased in more 1200 theaters across the United States of America. If these devoted college students can persevere in creating their film and finish well in distributing it to many people, this should be an encouragement for others to perform similarly in their lives. People should take on a task that is good for them and see it through till the end. If someone wants to create something pleasing to the LORD, then they need to finish it. The Bible says, "[We] need to persevere so that when [we] have done the will of God, [we] will receive what He has promised," (Hebrews 10:36).