The most important decision you will make on Election Day

This may seemingly not be a phrase for everybody however – no matter your religion custom, for those who imagine in God and in prayer – the most important election decision you make won’t be who will get your vote. A very powerful resolution can be to start your day in prayer. 

The previous adage is true – “faith and politics make unusual bedfellows,” however in the case of being an individual of religion – your perception system ought to information your politics, not the opposite approach round. 

In case you hearken to the pundits and politicians, you’ll suppose that the way forward for humankind rests within the fingers of who can be elected to the highest office in our land, however as Pastor Max Lucado likes to say, “We don’t know what the longer term holds, however we all know Who holds the longer term.”

With that small little bit of knowledge, prayer opens the door to the form of path and knowledge all of us want when getting into the poll field.

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For what ought to we pray – earlier than voting? Take a cue from King David within the Hebrew Scriptures – “Present me your methods, Lord, educate me your paths. Information me in your fact and educate me, for you might be God my Savior and my hope is in you all day lengthy” (Psalm 25:4-6). 

That little prayer says lots does it not? If we’ve got determined about who will get our vote with out consulting the One Who put us on planet Earth, then our vote is predicated upon the impotent knowledge of the individual within the mirror. But when we search first the path of the Almighty, it isn’t hyperbole to recommend we’ve got the chance to enter right into a form of divine partnership with the destiny of our nation. 

And, if “my hope” – to make use of David’s phrases – is in God “all day lengthy,” then it’s rightly positioned as a result of for folks of religion their hope shouldn’t be primarily in a celebration, a coverage or a politician. 

So earlier than making a choice about “who,” pray – ask God to disclose His methods… His paths… His fact… Within the second, God could very properly affirm your pondering, or God could change your thoughts – however regardless of the case, as with each side in a believer’s life, you’ll not be making your resolution alone.

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And in case you are tempted to imagine, as many recommend, that the Almighty is extra intently aligned with a specific candidate or political get together than one other, then a dose of the reality serum referred to as prayer will jolt you out of that mirage and set you again on a extra devoted response to this second in historical past. 

We should always not cling to the hope that God is on “my aspect” and never on “their aspect.” Through the Civil Battle, Abraham Lincoln was purportedly requested if God was on his aspect. “Sir, my concern just isn’t whether or not God is on our aspect,” mentioned the president, “my biggest concern is to be on God’s aspect, for God is all the time proper.” 

As a good friend of mine likes to say, “We have to cease spending a lot time attempting to determine whose aspect God is on and make the choice to be on God’s aspect,” which leads me to what believers must be praying for after the election.

We’re besieged on all sides from the acolytes of division who preach the message of pink states and blue states, us and them, enemies and allies, even good and evil. If in case you have discovered your self being tugged to consider America this fashion, possibly it’s time to reboot your inner working system. A political opponent just isn’t, and shouldn’t be deemed, an “enemy.” That individual is simply an opponent, as you might be to her or him. 

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A good friend of mine driving through Pennsylvania over the past election cycle handed a billboard that learn “America’s Solely Hope: Not The Donkey or the Elephant, however The Lamb.” This 12 months, 2024, cries out for an finish to our political bickering, however that may require some divine intervention, which is available in response to prayer.   

No matter who wins, the decision of believing individuals who pray is to wish particularly for all these in authority – all those that are elected – that they are going to, in actual fact, assist us stay extra into our American hope. What if our candidate loses? Pray. What if our candidate wins? Pray. 

You will have seen the latest movie “Reagan,” which included a touching second when the Democratic Home Speaker Tip O’Neill, who as soon as referred to as Ronald Reagan the worst president in American historical past, visited President Reagan within the hospital as he recovered from an assassination try. For a second within the movie, they break from their jovial banter and recite a portion of Psalm 23 collectively. However the actual story is sort of stronger.

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Outdoors of household, O’Neill was the very first consultant of official Washington to visit the recovering Reagan. There was just one member of the president’s workers within the room when O’Neill entered. Max Friedersdof, who had been posted to maintain undesirable friends from coming into the president’s room, would later share what truly occurred in that second with NBC’s Chris Matthews:

“When the speaker got here in, he nodded my approach and walked over to the mattress and grasped each the president’s fingers, and mentioned, ‘God bless you, Mr. President.’

“… the speaker acquired down on his knees and mentioned he want to supply a prayer for the president, selecting the twenty third Psalm. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not need. He maketh me to lie down in inexperienced pastures…’ [The president]… recited a part of the prayer with the speaker in virtually a whisper.”

President Ronald Reagan meets with members of Congress, from left, Congressman Bob Michel, Home Speaker Tip O’Neill and Sen. Howard Baker on the White Home. (Bettmann/Contributor/Getty)

“As soon as they’d completed, the speaker let go of the president’s hand, stood up, and bent to kiss him on the brow. ‘I’d higher be going,’ he informed the affected person, ‘I don’t need to tire you out.’”

My fellow People, sit with that for a second. 

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Would our “divided” nation not profit from stronger, devoted, moral, prayerful leadership like that as an alternative, maybe, of what we’ve got been witnessing between political factions over the previous few years? How may we get there? Pray.

So, earlier than you vote – pray. If in case you have already voted – pray as properly. And after the election – pray all of the extra. 

If you’re searching for phrases which may enable you alongside, why not borrow these of George H.W. Bush, who additionally made an important resolution the day he was inaugurated: his first act as president can be to wish. He turned to the Almighty and led the nation with this prayer: 

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“Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Settle for our thanks for the peace that yields today and the shared religion that makes its continuance seemingly. Make us robust to do Your work, prepared to heed and listen to Your will, and write on our hearts these phrases: ‘Use energy to assist folks.’…. Assist us to recollect it, Lord. Amen.”

Can I’ve one other Amen? As the times forward unfold, allow us to pray… after which carry on praying. We want it.

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