From: Jonathan Falwell
Date: September 5, 2008
Can You Affect November’s Election?
Well, the party conventions are over, the candidates have accepted their nominations and the
balloons and confetti from Denver and Minneapolis have been swept away.
As voters await the approaching debates to see how presidential or vice presidential the four
candidates are—or are not—there’s one thing that we, as Christians, should be painstakingly doing:
praying.
It may seem irrelevant, almost frivolous, to suggest such a thing at this point in the election season,
but I think prayer should be a constant in the life of Christians. And politics should not be an
exception to this rule.
Listen to what I Timothy 2:1-3 says: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior” (NKJV).
Simply put, God wants us to pray for our leaders. This means it doesn’t matter whether it is Bill
Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama or John McCain who is leading us; our duty is simply to pray
for them.
This may seem unnatural at times because our presidents and our lawmakers do not always reflect
the Christian principles that we love and attempt to live by. But notice that the above passage does
not say that we are to “pray for all men, as long as they reflect biblical values.”
We are instructed only to pray.
Christian friends, there is unique power in prayer—beyond what we can ever hope to fully
understand. That is why the Bible compels us to pray for: the peace of Jerusalem; our pastors and
church leaders; Divine direction for our lives; and many other things.
You see, our prayers affect the Mind of Christ. And so sometimes we must do things that seem
unnatural in order to please God—like praying for a leader who has no apparent heavenly interest.
But by doing so we satisfy what He calls us to do. This is how blessings arrive in our lives (and on
our nation).
In Acts chapter six we see the process by which deacons were appointed in the early church. They
were to be “men of good reputation, full of the holy Spirit and wisdom.”
These are the types of people we should be asking God to provide in all areas of our lives—from our
churches to our workplaces to our nation’s political offices.
Imagine if the Body of Christ united as one and prayed these types of people into government
positions across our nation. The only thing that prevents this from happening, sadly, is us. Our own
suspicious hearts get bogged down and we start thinking our nation has fallen away so far that God
Himself can’t return it to its former greatness.
But He can and desires to greatly bless America, which I believe is a gift to man from God.
The most prominent scriptural passage showing how Christians affect God’s view of nations is II
Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn form their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and
heal their land.”
Are you praying for your nation? Are you praying for your leaders?
You should be. I should be.
If we are, God has given us His tried and tested word that He will bless our nation.
Let’s commit together to take seriously our God-given responsibility to humbly pray and seek God’s
face so that He will, as promised, bless and heal our land.
Date: September 5, 2008
Can You Affect November’s Election?
Well, the party conventions are over, the candidates have accepted their nominations and the
balloons and confetti from Denver and Minneapolis have been swept away.
As voters await the approaching debates to see how presidential or vice presidential the four
candidates are—or are not—there’s one thing that we, as Christians, should be painstakingly doing:
praying.
It may seem irrelevant, almost frivolous, to suggest such a thing at this point in the election season,
but I think prayer should be a constant in the life of Christians. And politics should not be an
exception to this rule.
Listen to what I Timothy 2:1-3 says: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior” (NKJV).
Simply put, God wants us to pray for our leaders. This means it doesn’t matter whether it is Bill
Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama or John McCain who is leading us; our duty is simply to pray
for them.
This may seem unnatural at times because our presidents and our lawmakers do not always reflect
the Christian principles that we love and attempt to live by. But notice that the above passage does
not say that we are to “pray for all men, as long as they reflect biblical values.”
We are instructed only to pray.
Christian friends, there is unique power in prayer—beyond what we can ever hope to fully
understand. That is why the Bible compels us to pray for: the peace of Jerusalem; our pastors and
church leaders; Divine direction for our lives; and many other things.
You see, our prayers affect the Mind of Christ. And so sometimes we must do things that seem
unnatural in order to please God—like praying for a leader who has no apparent heavenly interest.
But by doing so we satisfy what He calls us to do. This is how blessings arrive in our lives (and on
our nation).
In Acts chapter six we see the process by which deacons were appointed in the early church. They
were to be “men of good reputation, full of the holy Spirit and wisdom.”
These are the types of people we should be asking God to provide in all areas of our lives—from our
churches to our workplaces to our nation’s political offices.
Imagine if the Body of Christ united as one and prayed these types of people into government
positions across our nation. The only thing that prevents this from happening, sadly, is us. Our own
suspicious hearts get bogged down and we start thinking our nation has fallen away so far that God
Himself can’t return it to its former greatness.
But He can and desires to greatly bless America, which I believe is a gift to man from God.
The most prominent scriptural passage showing how Christians affect God’s view of nations is II
Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn form their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and
heal their land.”
Are you praying for your nation? Are you praying for your leaders?
You should be. I should be.
If we are, God has given us His tried and tested word that He will bless our nation.
Let’s commit together to take seriously our God-given responsibility to humbly pray and seek God’s
face so that He will, as promised, bless and heal our land.