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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Prayer For Our Leaders

It is no secret to those who know me well that current politics rub me the wrong way.  I do not believe all good Christians are Republican (or that Obama is the equivalent of the anti-christ) nor do I believe that Democrats have the recipe for solving all the problems of our nation.  I liked Bush.  I like Obama.  Please don't let those last two comments cause your head to explode. 

God and I have been chatting a bit lately about how to pray for our leaders and our country.  The first convicting thing God brought to mind was Jesus teaching that when we pray, we are not to do it from a place of arrogance, but from a place of brokenness and humility.  (Luke 18:11)  I do not want to be a Pharisee on a street corner.

Below, you will find a prayer written from my heart.  Even as I type it, my heart cries out in brokenness and hope.  I share it because I think prayers like this might make a difference.  My words aren't magic.  Your's are probably better.  But maybe - if God's children cry out to Him in humility, we will see changes in a system that sometimes seems too far gone to fix.  I told God that I plan to put aside time at least once a week to cry out, in the attitude demonstrated below.  I don't know for how long - maybe for as long as I am a living American - maybe until I feel a prompting elsewhere.  Feel free to join me.  Maybe my words will strike a chord with you.  Maybe God will impress on you completely different ones.

Father God,
As one broken and fallen, I cry out to You for our leaders and our country.  In my own heart, I have seen fear and desire for security overrun the place where faith should be.  I have made decisions based on how I felt the world would perceive me instead of on my identity established in You.  It is Your grace that has kept me afloat.  You bless me with whispers of faith when fear looms near.  You carry me when my strength to stand is used up in futile worry and search for acclaim.

I pray God, that this same grace be extended to my leaders.  From my pastors and teachers on up to the President of the United States.  Father, would you also whisper words of faith to them as they fight - on a larger level than I - the temptation to "sell out" in order to gain or maintain position or power.  As they combat voices of deceit, please bless them with wisdom.    Give them strength to stand, even when financial backers threaten to remove support.  Teach them how to see themselves through Your eyes.  Lead them on a path that would remove the blinders of this world and allow them to see what You see.

As I strive to replace the fear that taints the walls of my mind, my home, and my church with faith, I pray that somehow you will allow that to be reflected in the walls of our government buildings.  Please take my feeble attempts to conquer fear (and my striving for security) as an intercession. 

We are broken, Father.  Come make us whole.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good prayer. The Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders. He does not designate one party or the other. Our pastor told me that he got e-mails almost every day asking him to pray for President Bush and that is good but he has not received one asking him to pray for President Obama. I find that strange I do not agree with all the policies our politicans give us but that does not mean I cannot pray for them.

Anonymous said...

Keep blogging ...fun to read. :)

Joe Hayes said...

Fantastic. As Christians, we need to be very careful about what teams we join, because once we join them, the psychology of teams starts to blind us to the truth. Christ is the Truth.