PRAY FOR THE ELECTION
On November 3 we will once again elect a President, Vice-President, and a host of other government leaders at the national, state, and local levels. One of our privileges as American citizens is the ability to participate in our governance like this. As Jesus-followers, our calling as citizens is to conduct our politics in a way that resounds to the glory of God, accurately reflects the values and priorities of our Savior and King, and contributes to the flourishing of others.
In light of this, for the next few weeks on Sunday mornings we will take a look together at how the Word of God leads us to think about and practice politics. We will begin this Sunday with Daniel 4 and how politics (like any practice of power) should ultimately be done for the glory of God. In the following weeks we’ll spend some time considering God’s purpose for government and how that informs our calling as citizens, how the truth of the kingdom of God should impact our politics, the role of the church in politics, and how we are called to pray for and anticipate the ultimate political reality of Jesus as our King, reigning in his kingdom.
Let’s also remember that we are called as Jesus-followers to be praying for our nation and government leaders during this time. As 1 Timothy 2:1-4 states, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
I found the following article helpful in helping me to think through how to pray for the election and our government leaders (https://www.worldvision.org/christian-faith-news-stories/6-ways-pray-country-during-election). Also, there are a number of prayer guides available online to help you think about how to pray for these things, from a variety of political perspectives. Here is a good example: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nationaldayofprayer/pages/287/attachments/original/1453510052/ELECTION_PRAYER_GUIDE.pdf?1453510052
In all things, let us rejoice and be glad that God’s “dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.”
God bless,
