The Election has come and gone. The results are all in (well, almost all in) It’s all over but the crying as they say. Post election analysis is now in full swing. The cycle is maddening. May I suggest a very simple prayer today to help us all, winners and losers, to have a different perspective. A heavenly perspective. Here is the Model Prayer, “The Lord’s Prayer” as it is called by some, “The Our Father” as it is called by others, applied to this post-election season.
The Lord’s Prayer for this Post-Election Season
Our Father – Thank You that for all those who are the disciples of Jesus Christ, that we are told by Jesus Himself to call You Father. What a privilege. As our Father, we can call You Abba, which means Daddy. We can know that we are Your concern so we can cast all our concerns upon You. We can cast our burden on the LORD for He will sustain us. We know today that You are the Father of all the those who have called on Jesus Christ, Your Son to be their Savior and have committed to follow Him as their Lord. This is true whether they be MAGA, Progressive or Libertarian. Thank you that our relationship with You is more important than any party affiliation. Our identity is not about our color, our culture or our community but about our being Your children and the creed we profess as Your children.
Who is in Heaven – Your position is that of the King of Heaven, the Boss of the Universe. You are the Most High God, who raises up and brings down rulers (members of congress as well) as You see fit. Your perspective is that of heaven. You see all of earth’s timeline past, present and future in one glance. You are not like our earthly parents who were imperfect and who had limited perspectives. As our Heavenly Father You are perfect in all Your ways. We can trust that You are in complete control, now, always.. … and forever
Hallowed be your name – Holy, Holy, Holy, the angels continually proclaim. You are the three times Holy God. This reality never ceases to be true. You swear by Your holiness. Holy is who You are. Holiness is what You expect. Both in Your people and in the nations. Let us always remember that You are holy. May we remind those who run for office and those who serve in office that they must in the end give an account to a Holy God.
Thy Kingdom Come – It is not about one political party or another. It is about Your kingdom. Though we are residents of the United States of America we are first of all citizens of the Kingdom of God and of heaven. We live in a democracy where the people rule, but we serve a Theocracy, where our God alone rules. We have Your kingdom’s agenda. Our allegiance is to You above and beyond anything else. Our votes can’t be bought or sold. We are not a special interest group or a voting block who can be placated by empty promises or worthless appointments. We serve an Audience of One. One!! You, that’s it!
Thy will be done – Yes Lord. It is not about my will or our will but Your will. There are 8 billion wills in the world and only one matters . Yours!!! Lord, we are surrendering to You at this moment. Whatever You want. You know best. We will do what You ask. We will speak up for what You desire. We will not let the fear of man silence us or the praise of man motivate us. It is Your will we seek to do and Your will we want to see accomplished. We want to be instruments of Your will. We know it is Your will for Israel to ultimately have peace and we work and pray for that. We know that Your desire is that all people be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and we work and pray for that. We know that You desire the unborn and innocent to be protected and we work and pray for that. We understand that You demand righteousness in a nation for Your blessing to be given and we work and pray for that. We know that You don’t want the poor or needy to be forgotten and work and pray for that.
On earth as it is in heaven – May we the earthly beings be as obedient to Your will as the heavenly beings are. May we seek to carry out Your will like our citizenship is from heaven because it in fact is. Lord, we don’t always understand Your ways, but we know You make no mistakes.
Give us this day our daily bread – Please help us to remember who we look to for our sustenance. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. We are dependent on You. You give us the strength to work, to make money, to buy food to eat. You provide for us. It is You we thank for our provisions not politicians. It is You we are obligated to not government. It is to You we look to for help and for solutions. If our leaders are instruments used by You to meet a need we appreciate their efforts but it is You whom we praise and give all the glory.
And forgive us our trespasses – Father, in all that is going on we get angry. We get short. We throw our remotes at our Smart TV’s. We write social media posts that don’t reflect our commitment to You. We are silent when we should speak up. We shout when we should be silent. In frustration, we have repeated lies about candidates, we have cursed pundits, we condemned political parties. We bless You the only God of the universe but speak evil of men made after Your likeness. We separate from our brothers and sisters in Christ along political ideologies. Instead of praying fervently for one another we argue vehemently with each other. We divide Your church, the body of Christ, for which Your Son died. Please forgive us.
As we forgive those who trespass against us – Lord, we are spoken evil of. We are mocked for our convictions. We are hated by some for standing for Your truth. We are lied to and lied about. One or another candidate claims we are extremists. One or another candidate lies to us about their positions. We are pressured and persecuted by Your enemies and by those we thought were our friends. We are used and abused. Father, please forgive them. Please help us to forgive them as we have been forgiven by You through Jesus Christ.
And lead us not into temptation – Please keep us in this post-election season from being tempted to make our government out to be our God, our politicians to be our hope, and elections to be the end all of everything. May we, in addition, not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Help us to be different, to be Christ-like. Furthermore, Father please keep us from the hour of tribulation still awaiting our world. In a moment, in a New York minute, we can be the target of our government or others for our beliefs that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, that marriage is between a man and a woman, that there are only two genders, that a fetus is a baby from conception, that the weak and poor should be defended, and that Israel should be protected.
But deliver us from evil or the evil one – Please Father rescue us as we live for You. Be our Strong Tower, Our Shield, Our Hiding place from the storms ahead regardless of who has been elected. Please also protect us from the wiles of the devil, the Evil One. We are not ignorant of His devices which include division among Your people, discouragement for Your leaders and doctrinal errors in Your church. We are so vulnerable. We need Your help.
For thine is the Kingdom – You reign now and forever. It’s all about You
And the power – You are the One in perfect control.
And the glory – Your name will be magnified
Forever – Both now and through eternity, from this election until we are with You forever.
Amen. – May it be so.
In Jesus name we pray.
Pastor Dave Watson
