After we prayerfully vote for our government leaders, Christians have a further responsibility to pray for those who are elected. Here’s a fresh idea for a small group or an entire church to impact governmental leaders.
Step #1: Before Election Day, use sample voting ballots to create a list of governmental positions to be elected, including local, state, and national leaders.
Step #2: State the goal. As a church-wide project, various groups in the church will commit to pray faithfully for one specific elected leader, and to let that person know they’re praying. (If this is done as a smaller group, assign individual members of that group to pray for a specific leader.)
Step #3: Make prayer assignments. Each group who commits to pray will select an elected position from the list. They will intentionally pray for the person who is elected to that position. Involve as many groups as possible—Bible classes, committees, teams, music or sports or discipleship groups, deacons, small groups, and so on.
Step #4: Provide sample ideas, but leave flexibility in methods to accomplish their commitment. Some examples:
• Make a plan to mail a monthly or bi-weekly note from different individuals. It may include encouraging words, prayer, Scripture, and the name of your church and group.
• Purchase a Bible as a gift and write an encouraging note inside the cover to promise your faithful prayers. Members sign their names. After the election, emboss the leader’s name on the cover and deliver it.
• Prepare a card to mail to the winning candidate immediately after the election. Include a group photo, holding signs that read “God bless you,” “Thank you,” and “We are praying for you!”
• Post a reminder sign in your meeting room, i.e. “Our class prays for City Council Representative Gina Clasp.”
• In your group’s e-mail or mail correspondence, include a prayer reminder.
• Voice a prayer for that government official when your group meets.
Step #5: Use 1 Timothy 2:1-4 as a three-step prayer guide. First, ask God to help them. Next, intercede on their behalf. And finally, give thanks for them. We pray for believers as well as unbelievers in leadership. If the leader is not a believer in Jesus, that last verse provides an added incentive to pray. We pray for those with whom we agree and those with different views. God says pray, so we pray faithfully!
Proverbs 21:1 promises, “A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever He chooses.”
Picture this. A senior adult Bible group prays weekly for your U.S. Senator. The media team prays for the Governor. The choir prays for a judge. The seventh graders pray for a City Council representative. Every group in your church is intentionally praying for a specific elected official, and God hears those prayers. As soon as the winning candidates are announced this Election Day, get ready to pray for them.
© Diana Davis 2016, www.dianadavis.org