A Million Women (AMW) -Year Two Prayer and Fasting

A Million Women at Two Years: What Prayer and Fasting Can and Can’t Claim

Two years ago this month, a vast crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC, not for a rally or a concert, but to pray. For ten hours, from 9 am to 7 pm on 12 October 2024, they fasted, repented and cried out to God. The event was called A Million Women (AMW).

A recent report on The Daily Declaration by Rod Lampard marks the second anniversary. Quoting movement leaders, it lists what organisers regard as answers to prayer over the two years since, and ends with the triumphant cry, “Look what the Lord has done! Ishtar has fallen!”

It’s the kind of story that stirs strong feelings. Some readers will be encouraged and inspired, others will be uneasy about connecting prayer with political outcomes, and some will simply want to know what the movement is. This post sets out what AMW is, what the Bible says about prayer and fasting, how to think about claims of answered prayer, what the “Ishtar” language means, and how Christians can pray with confidence and humility.

What Is A Million Women?

According to the report and the movement’s own materials:

• The founders. AMW was founded by the revivalist Lou Engle and is led by Laura Allred.
• The event. On 12 October 2024, about 250,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, including some Australians, according to organisers. They report that people from more than forty nations took part and an estimated 10 million more joined online. Attendance and viewing figures at large events are typically organisers’ estimates, and independent counts often differ.
• The gender balance. Warwick Marsh, editor-in-chief of The Daily Declaration, who was among the Australians present, estimated that around 80 per cent of those at the event were women. He described the day as one of solemn repentance and non-stop prayer.
• The aim. The movement describes its purpose as raising up “a global movement of Esthers,” women who, like the biblical queen, use prayer, fasting and leadership to influence the destiny of nations and prepare for the Lord’s return.
• Its stated convictions. The movement lists seven: that righteous women’s voices reinforce righteous culture (citing Esther 4:14); that we live with future generations in mind (Psalm 102:18); that nations belong to the Lord (Psalm 2); that we set the table for unity (Psalm 133; John 17); that mass united prayer and fasting dismantles principalities (Daniel 9); that solemn assemblies shift national outcomes (Joel 2; Esther 4); and that Israel is central (Joel 3; Romans 9–11).

What the Movement Says Has Happened

In an email marking the anniversary, Allred listed nine developments over the two years that she regards as answers to prayer. According to the report, they include:

• The Bible returning to public school classrooms in Texas
• The US federal government officially recognising only two genders
• The end of federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs
• Restrictions on transgender athletes in women’s sports
• Supreme Court decisions in favour of parental rights and Christian counsellors
• Legal wins by people who regret having undergone gender transition as minors, and major hospitals ending such interventions for minors
• Restrictions on federal abortion funding, and legal action by states to block abortion pills

Allred posted a timeline, saying, “Look what the Lord has done! Ishtar has fallen!” The report notes that she gave full credit to God answering humble and contrite prayer, citing Psalm 51:17, and not simply to the election of Donald Trump.

It’s worth being clear about what this is. These are the leaders’ own interpretation of recent events. Many of the developments listed are politically contested, and some are still subject to court challenges or reversal. Whether any of them counts as a “victory” depends heavily on one’s views about the underlying issues, and many Christians, as well as many non-Christians, will see some of them quite differently.

What the Bible Says About Prayer and Fasting

The movement draws on a rich biblical tradition.

Esther. When Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people, Esther asked the Jews of Susa to fast for three days before she approached the king, and said she would go in, “and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Mordecai’s challenge that she might have come to her position “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) is the verse most often quoted. The book is a story of courage, risk-taking and a community seeking God. It’s striking that God is never named in the book, and his hand is seen through events.

Solemn assemblies. Joel 2:15–17 calls for a trumpet to be blown in Zion, a fast to be declared and everyone, from elders to nursing infants, to gather and plead for God’s mercy. 2 Chronicles 20 describes King Jehoshaphat proclaiming a fast and the people gathering to seek the Lord before a battle.

Corporate repentance. Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1 record leaders confessing the sins of their people and asking God’s mercy.

Repentance that works. In Jonah 3, the people of Nineveh fasted and turned from their evil ways, and God relented from the disaster he had threatened.

Persistence. Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow so that his disciples would always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1–8).

Warnings about motive. Jesus warned against fasting to be seen by others (Matthew 6:16–18), and Isaiah 58 insists that the fast God chooses includes loosing the chains of injustice, sharing food with the hungry and caring for the oppressed. Prayer and fasting aren’t ends in themselves.

So there’s strong biblical support for gathering to pray and fast in times of need, and real value in what AMW is doing at that level. The more difficult questions concern how we interpret what follows.

How Should We Read Claims of Answered Prayer?

Christians have always believed that God hears prayer and acts in history. Jesus encouraged his followers to ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7), and James says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16). Rejoicing and giving thanks for God’s answers is biblical, as in the psalms of thanksgiving.

But there are good reasons for care when linking specific political events to specific prayers.

• Correlation isn’t causation. Because events followed a prayer gathering doesn’t prove the gathering caused them. Many factors, including elections, campaigns, court cases, public opinion and organising, shape political outcomes.
• Christians pray for opposite outcomes. Believers on different sides of political questions pray sincerely for different results, and each side may see their outcomes as answers. If we treated every result we like as a divine answer, we’d have to explain the ones we don’t like.
• God’s purposes aren’t always what we expect. The Bible’s pattern includes unanswered prayers, delayed answers and answers in unexpected forms. Paul prayed for his thorn to be removed and was told that God’s grace was sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:7–9). Jesus prayed in Gethsemane that the cup might pass, and then submitted to the Father’s will.
• Victories can be temporary. Political and legal wins are often reversible. A movement that locates its confidence in policy outcomes may be shaken when they change.
• The kingdom of God isn’t a political party. Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Prayer for the nation is right, and so is humility about identifying God’s work with any one faction.

None of this means we can’t give thanks. It means that we can thank God for good things while holding our interpretation of his purposes with humility.

“Ishtar Has Fallen”: Understanding the Language

The “Ishtar” language comes from the AMW event, where Messianic Jewish author Jonathan Cahn, according to the report, symbolically smashed an altar representing the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Marsh described Ishtar as the goddess associated with sex, equated with the biblical “Ashtoreth” or “Astaroth,” and said our culture is “worshipping sex.”

Here’s some background:

• Who Ishtar was. Ishtar was a major Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, fertility and war. The Canaanite equivalent was Astarte, and the Bible refers to her as Ashtoreth (for example, Judges 2:13; 1 Kings 11:5; 1 Samuel 7:3–4). Israel’s worship of such deities is a recurring theme in the Old Testament.
• A spiritual lens on culture. Some Christians interpret modern cultural trends, such as pornography, sexual revolution and abortion, as expressions of ancient forms of idolatry. They point to texts such as Ephesians 6:12, which says our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers, and Daniel 10, which speaks of spiritual conflict behind the scenes of nations.
• Other Christians are more cautious. They worry that “territorial spirit” language goes beyond what Scripture teaches, that it can encourage a focus on symbols and demons rather than on the gospel, and that it can lead to hasty identification of enemies. They point out that Paul describes our weapons as not of the flesh, but having divine power to demolish strongholds, which he identifies as arguments and pretensions against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).
• Symbolic acts. The Bible includes prophetic symbolic acts, such as Jeremiah’s yoke, and Elijah’s challenge on Mount Carmel. But the biblical destruction of idolatrous altars was done by kings acting under the old covenant (for example, 2 Kings 23). Christians differ on whether symbolic acts like the one described are appropriate today, and on what, if anything, they accomplish.

It’s possible to value the passion of the movement while also asking whether this kind of language is the most helpful way to describe the situation, particularly to people outside the church. The gospel’s central claim isn’t that an altar has fallen, but that Christ has defeated sin and death.

“Israel Is Central”: A Contested Conviction

The movement’s seventh stated conviction, that Israel is central, reflects a view held by many Christians, and it’s one on which Christians disagree. As we discussed in earlier posts on Christians and Israel, readers hold a range of views on the continuing significance of Israel in God’s purposes, from those who see a continuing and distinct role to those who emphasise fulfilment in Christ and the church. It’s a conviction that can be held sincerely and discussed charitably, without treating disagreement as a lack of faith.

Our Take

Here’s where we’d like to add some commentary.

1. Gathering to pray is good, whatever the numbers.

An estimated quarter of a million people spending ten hours in prayer and repentance is a remarkable witness, and it doesn’t depend on the exact figure. Christians should rejoice whenever God’s people humble themselves and seek him together.

2. Repentance must start with the church.

Daniel and Nehemiah confessed their own sins and those of their people. A movement that prays for the nation should be willing to ask where the church itself has failed, as well as where the culture has gone wrong.

3. Give thanks, and hold interpretations loosely.

It’s good to thank God for answered prayer, and it’s wise to avoid saying with certainty that particular political results were caused by a particular prayer meeting. A humbler approach says, “We prayed, we’re grateful for what we see, and we trust God with the rest.”

4. Don’t let prayer become a partisan tool.

Prayer for leaders and for the good of the nation is commanded for all of us (1 Timothy 2:1–4). It loses its integrity when it becomes a way to baptise a political party. The report itself says the movement credits God and not just the election of a particular president, which is a helpful emphasis.

5. Watch the focus on culture-war outcomes.

The list of answers to prayer in the report is largely about law and policy. These matter, but the great answers to prayer in the New Testament are conversions, healings, reconciliations and the growth of the church. A prayer movement that measures success mostly by legislation may be missing some of what God is doing.

6. Honour the women.

The movement rightly values the prayers of mothers, grandmothers and daughters. Marsh’s thanks for “praying mums, praying grandmothers” is well placed. Women have always been central to the church’s life of intercession, and that deserves to be celebrated.

7. Combine prayer with action and love.

Esther prayed and acted. James says faith without works is dead (James 2:17). A movement of Esthers should also be a movement of women and men who serve the vulnerable, support mothers, care for the poor and build up families and churches.

The Other Side of the Conversation

In fairness, here are some other perspectives:

• Supporters of the movement would say that prayer and fasting are biblical, that they’ve seen real changes, and that it’s right to give God credit and not to explain everything in naturalistic terms.
• Critics on the political left would say that many of the listed outcomes harm vulnerable people, including transgender people and women who need abortion access, and that describing them as victories is painful and divisive.
• Cautious Christians worry that the language of “principalities” and “altars” can shift attention from Christ, and that attributing political results to prayer risks triumphalism or disillusionment.
• Some Christians disagree with specific policy positions on the list, even if they agree with the practice of prayer, and they’d not want to be associated with the political framing.
• Sceptics might say that the claim can’t be tested, and point out that the same events can be explained by political, legal and social factors.
• Others would stress that the point of prayer is communion with God, and that the real fruit is changed hearts, including our own.

Each of these perspectives has something to teach, and none of them cancels out the call to pray.

How to Pray Boldly and Wisely

• Pray with Scripture. Use the prayers of Daniel, Nehemiah, the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer as models.
• Begin with repentance and worship, and ask God to search your own heart.
• Pray for all people, including those with whom you disagree, and for those in authority.
• Fast with purpose. Combine fasting with generosity and justice, as Isaiah 58 describes.
• Pray with others. Unity in prayer is a witness, and it helps us to test our understanding.
• Keep a record of answered prayers, and be thankful, but be modest about what you claim.
• Act on your prayers. Look for ways to serve your neighbours, support families and speak truth in love.
• Remember the main thing. Pray most of all that people will come to know Jesus.

Questions to Reflect On

• What does it mean for me to be an “Esther” for my own time, family and community?
• When have I seen God answer prayer in a way I did not expect?
• Do I tend to over-read or under-read the way God acts in public events?
• Is my prayer life shaped more by Scripture or by the news?
• Who are the praying women and men in my life, and how could I thank them?

A Short Prayer

Lord God, you hear the cries of your people and you are mighty to save. We thank you for every gathering where your people have humbled themselves, repented and sought your face. Teach us to pray with courage and with humility. Forgive our sins and the sins of our nations, and give us hearts that long for your kingdom more than for our own victories. Raise up praying mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and make us faithful in prayer and in action, until your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.