Prayer for our Nation on the Eve of the National Elections

PrayingHeavenly Father, blessed is your name and worthy of praise throughout all ages. You are righteous in all you do. Your works are true, your ways are right and your judgments are correct.

What you have said in your Word is true. If your people who are called by your name will humble themselves and pray, and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways, then you will hear from heaven and heal their land. We come to you today appalled at the lengths Satan has gone to in our land, in so many places, through so many people and with so many philosophies which dishonor your name.

Lord we call upon you this morning for the sake of your country and in view of the national election of a President and other leadership just a couple of days away.

We confess our need for your help. Forgive us of horrendous sins as a nation. Forgive us also of those seemingly small sins which we do not often feel the need to confess. Wash America as white as new fallen snow through the blood of Jesus. We desire a peaceful and prosperous land, but we are deeply divided and far from the ideals upon which our country was founded. We have seen the frailties of humanity. It is clear to us now that to achieve a leadership role is no guarantee of righteousness.

We ask you to open the eyes of our people to see through the fog of manipulative commercials and empty promises. Give us the humility to let go of party issues and to see what is right for our nation and your people. Protect us from divisive rhetoric which creates such fear and mistrust. Help us to remember our common humanity across all bounds of race and religion.

Much has been said in these campaigns about undocumented immigrants in this country. We are not their judge. My prayer is that love and grace may be shown to them such that while in this land and whatever their personal turmoil, they might be shown and experience what it means to have genuine faith and hope in Jesus Christ.

Guide us with the pure light of your love and truth. Give us grace to do what is right and to let go of short-term thinking and to focus on long-term good for our nation. Fill us with courage to stand by our convictions.

We pray for this election process that we might show to the world the best of a democratic process, not simply a win-at-all-cost attitude. May whoever is elected President govern with a fresh sense of your hand upon this land and the hope it may offer to the people of our world.

And Lord, we pray somehow you make our nation better, stronger and more united after going through this long and difficult political season.
We pray this in the strong and loving name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen

Dr. Rick Marshall

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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