Prayer for the Election

Jeff Leake, pastor of AllisonParkChurch is encouraging people to pray for the Election and shared this prayer on his blog. May God guide us as a nation as we pray and vote.

God, first of all we declare that you are the one in whom we trust. Our lives, our families, our resources and our futures depend on You. You are our Father, who lives in the heavens. We praise your name. We recognize that you rule over all. We willingly submit ourselves to your leadership. We pray that your Kingdom would come, and your will would be done. May heaven's purposes and power be released in our nation. We want the way things are in the heavens to come down and be manifest on the earth, specifically upon our own country. Forgive us O God for our many offenses. For our pride and arrogance, forgive us. For using harsh, critical and sometimes slanderous words, forgive us. For our bitterness toward others, political leaders, or political parties, forgive us. For our self-righteousness, forgive us. Forgive us Lord for being a nation that so values the freedom of sexual expression that we are willing to destroy the lives of our own children in the womb. Forgive us O Lord for the way we treat the idea of marriage and family. We have allowed divorce without consequence, encouraged sex without responsibility, and attempted to define marriage as something beyond the beautiful expression of life-time covenant between a man and a woman. Forgive us O Lord for years of prejudice in this nation and for the injustice that extended from that prejudice. Forgive us Lord for our lack of concern for the poor, the homeless, the suffering, and the innocent. Lord we need your mercy, but even more than that, we need your transforming grace. Our hearts have become hard and our motives have become selfish. We need a move of God upon the hearts of people all across this land. Now, we ask you God to guide the decisions made in this upcoming election. We believe that you can work in our lives, regardless of what happens, but as we cast our vote, we truly do seek your will to be done. Move upon the hearts of people to make a choice that will be in the best interest of this nation. And now, we pledge ourselves to bless and pray for our leaders whoever they will be following this election. We choose to become part of the solution. We will NOT extend the atmosphere of anger and suspicion that so fills our airways. We will love those we perceive to be our enemies. We will bless those who curse. We will pray for those who we feel are mistreating us or others. And most of all, we choose to DO GOOD to those who hate us and to those in need. We will not let this election season be the last time we think about the issues important to our nation. We will continue to engage our culture and pray for change in this nation. We will work to invest in life, the family, for racial reconciliation, and for the meeting of the needs of the poor and the vulnerable. Finally, we declare that our hope is in You and in the coming of Your Kingdom in the hearts of people. We thank you for freedom in this nation. We believe we need to pray for and support our leaders. We long for skilled governance from our national and local leaders. But we believe that the most important solutions are not political, nor are they governmental, they are spiritual. So just like in the days of the early church, when they lived under the harsh and oppressive rule of the Romans, may the Kingdom of God come and expand in the hearts of people. May the work of Jesus in the hearts of Your people ignite a revolution that will transform not only this nation, but will touch the world. We pray this will all humility and faith. In Jesus' name, Amen! _________________________ Women, we need to get out and vote no matter how long the lines, bad the weather or how poorly we may feel. It's a privilege that has been afforded us as women for only 90 years. Women prayed, debated, marched, were beaten and jailed so we can have this opportunity. Let's show our appreciation for their paving the way to uphold the Constitution that says "that all men (mankind) are created equal." Let's vote.