A barefoot Russell Brand has knelt on the floor at the conclusion of an hour-long conversation with conservative US commentator and interviewer Tucker Carlson and spontaneously prayed against the “dark and demonic forces” in government and corporate America. It prompted Answers in Genesis Executive CEO Martyn Iles to share the prayer, posting: “I think Russell Brand may pray better than I do. PTL!”
The prayer has been widely shared across most social media platforms, dividing viewers over whether the actor/comedian’s new found faith is genuine. He was baptised on April 28 in the River Thames near his Henley-on-Thames home with the help of his good friend, TV adventurer and author Bear Grylls.
The Christian Post reports that when Tucker Carlson asked him if he would be willing to close their conversation in prayer, Russell Brand enthusiastically obliged, praying that the upcoming US presidential election would provide an opportunity for “unity” in the United States.
“I call on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Saviour. Lord, I humbly [ask] in this great congregation in Phoenix, Arizona, with my host, Tucker Carlson, in deference to him, but in ultimate deference to You, our Lord and Saviour, to whom we are all your younger siblings and your children.”
“I pray in your name that the forthcoming election be an opportunity for unity, for America and for Americans, for forgiveness and for grace; that the dark and demonic forces that appear to operate at the level of the state — the deep state and the corporate and global world — experience your light, Lord.”
He went on to ask God to “guide all of our tongues and all of our words and all of our hearts, that we feel your forgiveness and that we feel your grace. Thank you, Lord, for the many gifts that you have bestowed upon us. Thank you for the glory of consciousness itself, in which we can experience you and live you. Thank you for the beauty of nature, in which we see your wisdom and your creativity and your infinite glory.”
He also thanked God that He “was born and died, that we may be forgiven and that we may have eternal life, not through merit or anything that we have individually achieved. For surely, all of us are fallen. But in your holy name, we are forgiven by your act of redemption. By your sacrifice in your name, we pray. Amen.”
Russell Brand posted a picture of his prayer on social media last week, writing simply, “My life has changed. Praise Jesus.”
Australian Christian commentator Stephen McAlpine observed during an interview with Vision Radio’s 20Twenty program: “It’s certainly not a time to keep your head up if you are Christian. You would lose a lot of followers I would have thought if you were a celebrity at the moment. But at the same time, there’s a tension in our culture that has seen Russell Brand, in particular, lean into spirituality.”
“It’s very easy to use the ‘God’ word, but Russell Brand’s become more and more focused and on every Tik Tok, Instagram or YouTube video, he’s talking about something from the Scriptures as none of those other things that he was pursuing seemed to satisfy him. It went from an intellectual curiosity to: I need something in myself as I look at the way the world is, but also as I look at how I am.
“It’s the compelling nature of Jesus I think that saw people like Russell Brand saying: I’m not a celebrity. When I wake up in the morning, in my head, I’m Russell. And I just realised that I was proud and addicted and selfish and something about Jesus changed that. You have to be very careful not to dismiss that and say, well, people like Russell Brand can’t become Christian because he’s bad. But various prostitutes, tax collectors and thieves on crosses somehow became Christian while the good people didn’t. And I just think we’ve got to be very careful how we navigate this.”
“I think you should check the fruit of the person who’s making the claim, but also be very careful because Jesus said: No one will speak ill of me who’s not with me. And I just say, be very careful because those people have to live their lives in their heads as they are, not as a celebrity. And I think that’s part of the issue. That we have to realise that we make them celebrities. But in front of Jesus, they’re just the same as us. That makes us not despise them, but it also makes us not hero worship them beyond what Jesus would do.”
Image: Screenshot – YouTube – Tucker Carlson Network
