Yeah, Right, Whatever

During the '04 presidential campaign, I wrote a few posts about praying for the election (please note that many of the links in those posts are now broken- I have no idea why they've disappeared). I've mentioned doing those again, and, with less than 2 months to go before the election, I guess it's time to get started. I've decided to do these once a week, on Monday.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Tim 2:1-2 (NIV)

There is more to praying for the elections than to just pray for the ones who are elected. I will get into those in later posts, but let's start with praying for our nation itself.

Frank Wright wrote a very good piece on how to pray for America. I recommend that you read the article (it's not long), but here's a snippet:

To pray rightly for America, we must pray from a foundation of understanding. To pray effectively, we must understand the times, understand our need, and understand the spiritual condition of our nation. Too often we assume God’s blessings on America will always continue, because God is on our side.

But it is risky business to assert that God is always on our side. Abraham Lincoln wisely responded to such an assertion by saying that the real question was whether we were on His side. That question is no less germane today. Before we ask God to come to the aid of our nation in troublous times, we would do well to ponder whether our spiritual indifference may be leading God to withdraw His protective covering. 

 Psalms says, refering to Israel, that "blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Aside from that, the Bible doesn't say much about how government is supposed to work. But it says a lot about an individual's actions. Pray for revival in our land. Pray that our nation, as a whole and each individual citizen, will turn our hearts back to God, ask forgiveness for turning away from Him, and that we will once again become the nation of faith that the Founders intended.