Gospel artist Donnie McClurkin has shared why he believes Christians should pray for U.S. President Donald Trump - even if they don't agree with his policies.

"Now is our time to pray for him. This is the job of the church," the 57-year-old "Great Is Your Mercy" artist said during an appearance on the syndicated radio show Get Up! Mornings With Erica Campbell.

"Let the world protest but the job of the church now is to go into prayer and pray that, number one, he succeeds, because if he fails, we have to deal with the consequences as a nation," he added, quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14. "America is in a place that it has never been before and the Christian has got to be who God has called us to be."

McClurkin, who serves as the pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, also suggested that the rallies carried out across the U.S. protesting Trump's policies on immigration and other issues aren't helpful: "We need to know what our vote really means and how to utilize it. But I don't want us to get caught up in this protest," he said. "The protests do nothing but rile up. It causes people's
anger to rise up and it gives us a false sense of involvement."

"The true sense of involvement is at the voting booth," he added.

While he wants Christians to pray for Trump, the singer said he didn't vote for the billionaire businessman because of his "lack of policy, misogynistic ideals (and) racism."

McClurkin is not the only Gospel artist to encourage Christians to pray for the president. Tina Campbell of the music duo Mary Mary expressed a similar sentiment in an open letter posted to her Facebook page last month.

"I believe that understanding and compassion [are] absolutely necessary for the progress of all people," she wrote. "So, although I don't always understand or agree with Mr. Donald Trump's politics, perspective, and approach, I believe that the same God that created all of us has deposited greatness inside of him that goes far beyond what many of us have seen and what many of us could imagine."

The singer said that though she does not agree with all of Trump's policies, she stands firm on biblical standards that lead her to forgive him and encouraged others to join her in praying for the president.

"I choose to stand with him, and pray for him; because, as a follower of Jesus Christ and a firm believer in the Holy Bible, according to 1 Timothy 2:1-3, I have been commanded to: 'The first thing I want you to do is pray every way you know how... especially for rulers and their governments, to rule well. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live,'" she wrote.