Five Election Day Prayers

If you live in the United States, today is election day.  Today’s election is, perhaps, the most fraught of any election in a half century or more.  No matter where a person stands on the political divide this election feels momentous.   It feels as if the future trajectory of a nation stands in the balance.  No matter the outcome of this week’s election there will be many in our congregations (perhaps yourself included) who will experience disappointment and dismay wondering how a nation could elect the leader she has chosen.  So on this election day I offer five prayers for your consideration…prayers you may want to share with others.

Here are 5 election day prayers:

Prayer 1: Lord, may your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer 2: Lord, help me discern Your will and cast my ballot accordingly.

Prayer 3: Lord, grant me peace knowing that Your will, in the end, will never be thwarted.

Prayer 4: Lord, help me remain committed to change anything that is not in Your will.

Prayer 5: Lord, remind me of my heavenly citizenship and help me behave accordingly.

Below is a portion of a letter I recently wrote to our local newspaper, the Holland Sentinel, expressing what I believe to be the passions of the church living in a politically divided world:

The CRC has chosen to stay above the political fray to call everyone to the higher standard of heavenly citizenship (Philippians 3:20).  Week after week CRC pulpits call congregants to live by the values of love for God, love for neighbor, absolute integrity, the pursuit of mercy and justice, care for the orphan, and treating everyone with the respect that image bearers of God deserve. Above all, CRC pulpits remind parishioners that those who have received mercy through Jesus Christ must extend that mercy to others. 

The Christian Reformed Church is a place to find a home no matter your political persuasion.  We may not always agree but we will love, we will listen, we will learn and we will grow into the kind of people God has in mind for us to be.  Admittedly, this is a long game and we won’t always get it right in the short term.  Still, we believe that there is nothing like the church when the church is working right.  No matter your story, the area Christian Reformed Churches welcome you to visit and discover the joy of a God-centered life lived out in dynamic Christian community.