Many Christians believe the election victory of George W. Bush was a direct answer to fervent prayer. But several well-known prayer and intercessory groups are putting out "code red" prayer alerts-urging Christians to pray for the physical safety of President Bush. The reason: what's known as "the zero year curse" or the Tecumseh curse.

Legend has it that after the historic battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Tenskwatawa, the brother of the great Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh, wanted revenge. The Indians had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of General William Henry Harrison and his troops near Lafayette, Indiana.

Angry and bitter, the chief's brother sent General Harrison a written prophecy stating that if elected president, Harrison would die in office, "and after him, every great chief chosen every 20 years thereafter will die. And when each one dies, let everyone remember the death of my people."

Whether the legend is true or not, the following is fact: William Henry Harrison became President in 1840 and died of pneumonia in 1841. Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, was shot to death in 1865. James Garfield, elected in 1880, was shot and died of his wounds in 1881. William McKinley, elected in 1900, was fatally shot in 1901. Warren Harding, elected in 1920, died from possible food poisoning in 1923. Franklin Roosevelt, elected in 1940, suffered a fatal stroke in 1945. John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, was assassinated in 1963. And Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, was nearly killed by an assassin's bullet in 1981, and, although he suffers from Alzheimer's, he is still alive today.

So why did Reagan survive when all seven previous presidents elected in zero years did not? Gary Bergel of Intercessors for America believes a concerted effort of prayer and fasting by numerous prayer groups helped break the curse and spare Reagan's life.

If the curse was broken back in 1981, why bring it up again? Bergel says a new round of death curses came forth in the year 2000, mostly from new age astrology groups, prompting Intercessors for America to sound the prayer alarm.

Bergel was shocked to find quotes saying, "the 2000 elect must die" and that these predictions were based on interpretations of planetary alignments. "…we felt we needed to call for reaffirming prayer that the older round of courses were broken. We needed to stand on the victory that we saw clearly evidenced in spring of 1981 with the attempt on President Reagan's life. And then we would ask believers to pray to see a canceling or annulling or a breaking, as some would say, of these new decrees and predictions, that we were not going to give this over to the evil one."

Whether you believe the curse is real or not, the good news is there may be more people praying for the president and our nation than ever before. Scores of nationally recognized prayer groups are now making prayer for the president and other national leaders a top priority.

A group representing various ministries met in Washington recently to discuss strategies for praying for the nation. Carol Poulis, with "Ask for America," helped organize the president's inaugural prayer breakfast and is now focused on encouraging prayer for the different braches of government-especially on the third Saturday of each month. "We're asking people to pray for the president and his family, his executive branch, legislative branch, judicial branch, the nation and, of course, the nation's capitol," she says.

Christian talk show host Don Kroah has been monitoring the spiritual pulse of his listeners since before the impeachment trial. He says something changed in the spiritual atmosphere when George W. Bush took office. "Almost without exception," he says, "it has been just a sense that there's a new breath of the Holy Spirit's wind blowing in the city and sense of hope, I think, has been and is being restored to this area and to the nation itself. It's been exciting to hear people say God does answer prayer after all."

As for the legendary "zero year curse," Poulis and other prayer leaders caution Christian not to be fearful, but to remember that Christ has given them His authority to cancel all assignment from the enemy. Poulis affirms, "We have the power in the name of the Lord to stand against these principalities and these curses. We can say to those principalities 'no,' in the name of Jesus, and we can break them."

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