Prayer for Leaders Present and Future
February 02, 2021
Our community has recently engaged in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. It was a wonderful time. we had 21 nightly virtual prayer meetings in a variety of churches across our city.
Thousands attended and prayed across denominational, ethnic, cultural, and geographical lines.
That emphasis closed out Sunday night, but it does not mean we are finished.
This has been a rather consistent prayer in my life for leaders over the last almost ten years when I first articulated it.
With a new administration, new cabinet members, and new members of Congress as well as our local governments, I find it appropriate to renew it.
Prayer is a constant.
It is a constant need. It is a constant call.
It is as constant and instant as breathing.
It is as vital to our vitality as nutrition and water.
It is the very character of our relationship with God and our dependence upon God.
It flows from the depths of our being and makes a full circle to Heaven and back again to and through us.
Let us pray for those who lead our nation:
Lord, God, I pray for our leaders and potential leaders, for our President and anyone who may come into that office. May they be blessed and guided, refreshed and equipped. You know no party and affiliate with none of our artificial labels.
May those who make critical decisions consult wise adviser and weigh the consequences of their decisions.
May they act with compassion toward the poor and powerless and with fairness, justice, and pragmatism tempered with truth.
May they be seekers, whether they be elected or candidates for election.
Temper their speech. Grant them the grace to agree with their opponents when their opponents ring true.
Grant them the courage to speak truth when no one else agrees.
Grant them the confidence of their convictions and the humility of those who are willing to test those convictions.
May we, who occupy the highest offices of the land, citizens with the power to vote and speak, listen deeply, ignore rhetoric, and inform our consciences.
Then, when all the votes are counted, may we continue to speak truth in love and pray for those whom we have called to office, loving them and respecting them as our leaders, but also challenging them to greatness and righteousness.
Help us to appreciate those who differ with us, who challenge our own presumptions and assumptions. Teach us to listen to one another and respect our differences. Help us to embrace those who do not share our faith and appreciate the insights they bring to bear upon our minds knowing that You can speak to us through them.
Center us in truth. Thy Word is truth and you love truth wherever it leads us.
This is my prayer of the moment. In Jesus' Name. Amen.