This Sunday—on the Sunday before our national election—I will be leading a guided prayer time during our morning worship service. I believe my responsibility is to help people have a meaningful encounter with God during this segment of the service. But given how strong people’s opinions are, it is critically important that I not do anything that is perceived as biased or partisan. Here is what I’ve come up with. After each bullet point, I will allow a period of time so everyone can pray in their own words and their own way.
This coming Tuesday, we have the privilege of going to the polls, voicing our opinion, and selecting men and women who will provide leadership to our community and country going forward. It is a freedom many people on this planet do not enjoy.
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 we read these words: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” One of the major thrusts of our prayers, Paul says, should be for our leaders—those in authority over us.
As we think about this coming Tuesday, many of us come into this room with a preferred outcome. But as followers of Jesus, I also believe our ultimate hope has never been in the outcome of an election—i.e., our hope is not in a blue donkey or a red elephant but a slain Lamb … a sovereign God who, throughout history, has worked out his purposes through every leader and every regime. Some governments have been open and receptive to His reality. Some have been less so. But none has thwarted Him or His plans. Even though we may feel at times that matters have been taken out of our hands, they’ve never been taken out of His.
This morning, I think it’s appropriate we take time to pray for our country and those who seek the mantle of leadership. But rather than me pray, I want to provide some guidelines so we can do what 1 Timothy 2 asks us to do. So, if you’d bow your head and close your eyes ...
· Before we move into prayer about specific circumstances, I think it would be good to express our gratitude for the fact we get the privilege of voting and voicing our opinion. This may be jumping the gun a bit as next Sunday is Veterans’ Day weekend. But lets thank God for the privilege that is ours and for those who inconvenienced themselves and served our country in large part to preserve and protect these freedoms.
· The presidential election process is grueling and exhausting—even in a pandemic. I think it would be good for us to remember that these candidates are human beings. I’d encourage you to lift the Biden and Harris families, as well as the Trump and Pence families, in prayer. Pray for their health … their personal wellbeing … their extended families and loved ones as this season of campaigning comes to a close.
· In our state we’re electing a senator … national and state representatives … judges and other key individuals. While we care about the presidential election, in many ways these state and local officials are the individuals whose decisions will likely have more direct influence on our lives. As the names of various people who you’ve seen on yard signs in recent weeks come to mind, pray for them and God’s guidance and providential care in their lives.
· Returning to the presidential election … whoever is elected will assume a massive responsibility. And in all the political commentary, one quality that is almost never mentioned is wisdom—wisdom to not only to diagnose and understand complex issues, but wisdom when it comes to the selection of people who will provide counsel and advice. Pray for God’s wisdom to rest upon this person … upon this selection process … and upon those men & women who will have an enhanced level of influence in the years to come.
· Without a doubt, we are a fractured, divided country. I know I’m praying not only for a decisive result but, regardless of which way the election goes, that we can begin to heal and come together … that civility and propriety can more fully begin to take hold … that some of the partisanship can begin to subside and our country can unite around a shared commitment to pursue the common good. We’ve got some very real problems that will not be solved by bickering and squabbling. They will only be effectively dealt with and ironed out through a broad-based coming together.
· The divide we’ve seen in our nation has infiltrated and crept into the church, particularly during this pandemic. Some congregations have literally been ripped apart by decisions about masks … about when and how to reopen … about Black Lives Matter and what the appropriate response should be to the current cry for social justice. Pray that we might be a unified people regardless of the results of Tuesday’s election and that, out of that unity, we can be an effective and winsome witness. For the government can never do the work of the church. Nor can it be the voice of the church. Only the church can be the church, and our country deeply needs the church to be the church. We don’t need to be a political constituency or another special interest group. We need to be the distinctive, extraordinary people of God who live out an irresistible, winsome faith.
Father—thank you for hearing our prayers and supplying us with a sense of tranquility and peace. We trust you … place our confidence in you … and pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.