Franklin Graham: Pray for Obama Amid North Korea Decisions

In the midst of growing threats of a North Korea attack, President Barack Obama must decide how to respond. Evangelist Franklin Graham says Americans need to pray for God to give wisdom to the leader during this critical time.

“First of all, I think we need to pray,” Graham, CEO of humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, said in an interview with CNN’s Starting Point. “We need to pray for our president. We need to pray that God will give him wisdom as he makes decisions at this point. This is a very critical time, right now, for our country, and we need to come behind our president and support him with prayer.”

The son of Billy Graham founded Samaritan’s Purse in 1970 and has traveled to North Korea four times over the last 13 years with the organization. Watchdog Open Doors USA has classified the Kim Jong-un–led country as the most oppressive nation in the world for its persecution of Christians.

North Korea began last month issuing increasingly threatening statements toward the United States and its Asian neighbors. According to the Pentagon, it has been discovered recently that North Korea may be able to deliver a nuclear weapon via missile with low reliability. Any move by the country would halt the 1954 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.

“For 60 years, we’ve had our armies there on the border and nothing has changed. We need to find a way forward that would somehow bring peace to the peninsula. The North wants that, I believe, and the South wants that very much. But how we get there, we just need God to give wisdom,” Graham noted.

A recent CNN poll shows that now more than ever, Americans are worried about a nuclear threat, with 41 percent of respondents categorizing North Korea as an immediate threat.

The evangelist’s foundation, in addition to its humanitarian work, has also tried to keep track of Christians in North Korea.

“We have tried to maintain a dialogue, at least with the churches and the Christians in the country, because we want them to know that America isn’t their enemy. We are their friend, and we want peace,” Graham commented. “But more importantly, this is an atheist country. I want them to know there is a God who loves them and cares for them, who sent a savior whose name is Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for their sins, and we can be forgiven.

“We want the leadership in the North to know that God does love them,” Graham added. “And they need His help at this time, just like we need His help.”