Tuesday, November 4, 2008

An Election Day Prayer

An Election Day Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, God who created Heaven and Earth:

In your vast universe, we are but a “blue dot” in the rearview mirror, so very small by comparison to all You have made. On that blue dot, there is a small continent, and on that small continent there is a small country. Only a baby by our own earthly, finite standards. How much smaller and younger by the way that You measure time and space. And in Your loving-kindness,You have sought to be PRESENT in our every step since the days of our beginnings. Everywhere we look around us, there are reminders that You were invoked here during the days of our founding. You are acknowledged on our monies, on the walls of national capitol buildings, on courthouse steps, on hospital walls. It was not the intention in the beginning to push You out or push You away. We sought only to worship You freely and without fear of retribution.

Somewhere in the march of time, as generations have passed, we have moved away from You one step at a time. We have neglected Your Word. We have made light of things that You call an abomination. We speak openly and proudly of things that are done in secret. We murder the innocent by the millions. We ban You from our educational system. We routinely break our marriage covenants. We flaunt our nudity. We bow at the idol of materialism. We lust for that which is unseemly. We ridicule Your son, and we ignore Your Holy Spirit. Oh God, please forgive us. Please have mercy on us.

Hope is not lost. As long as there is life, Life in You, there is hope. And there is still a remnant…perhaps millions strong…lifting their voices in intercessory prayer to You always. But especially on this day. We repent on behalf of our nation. We recognize that You cannot withhold Your wrath forever upon our wickedness. But we ask You today to once again raise up the righteous, and tear down the wicked. Give us men like Elijah who will stand in the gap for us. Give us courage to stand in the face of evil. Give us willing hearts for service.

Forgive us, as your Bride, for not being a true example of Your love. Forgive us for not being Your hands and feet. Forgive us for allowing the government to do the job that we should be doing. Where there is hunger, poverty, genocide, wars, and unspeakable pain, may we be the ones to comfort, to give, to heal, to save. Give us Your eyes to see the world. Help us not to think in a vacuum that only sees our own problems and the troubles of our own nation.

Today is our nation’s Election Day, and we need Your wisdom and guidance. I humbly ask that You draw in close to us as we go to the privacy of the voting booth. I ask that You would use whatever means necessary to breathe a memory through our minds. Remind us of righteousness, of life, of moral duty and responsibility. Remind us of Yourself. Today You set before us life and death, blessings and cursings. Oh God, please help us to choose wisely. Help us to choose life that we and our children may live.

As dawn breaks tomorrow morning, whoever our new President-Elect may be, I humbly pray down Your grace and anointing on him. May You over-shadow him so completely with Your presence that he falls on his face before you. And may your people still place all hope and faith and trust in only You. For You are all we have in this life and in the life to come. In life or in death, we belong to You. All this I pray in the name of our crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ Your Son,

Amen.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tara, that prayer was absolutely beautiful and oh so timely. Thank you!

Kimberly said...

Good!!

Unknown said...

God bless your heart. You said it all with great truth and dignity.

Cheryl