The National Day of Prayer and Praying 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Lord, please help every American to take it seriously and pray for our nation today. Put the want and desire to do so on all of our hearts, minds, and lips today, and make it a very strong desire.

Furthermore, Father God, make this desire to pray for our nation last longer than one day, but may it be a deep, daily, relentless desire. Teach us and help us to pray for our nation and our leaders at several moments every day. There is too much at stake for us not to do so. Our earthly lives depend on our consistent praying.

Take this passage, Lord. It proves what You have been putting on my heart, mind, and lips for hours, days, weeks, months, and years now:

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1 Timothy 2:1-4 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

2 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

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Pray for everyone, Lord, Your Word tells me. Pray any and every way I can think of for them. Then, this passage in the Holy Bible grows more specific. It says to pray for every leader, authority figure, and king. Then, it explains why. If we pray for those in leadership, then we can live a quiet and tranquil life in all dignity and godliness.

I pause as I take this in, Father God. Isn't that the truth? I cannot number all of the sleeplessness nights and stomach churning days in my life because of the turmoil and carelessness leaders tend to leave in their wake. Lord, if we do not want poor leadership, at any level, then it is our obligation to pray for them several times per day. Help me to remember to do so, Abba. Put the want and desire in me to do so and tell me what to pray, please. Guide me and instruct me.

Lord, I pray for all of the leaders in my life. From my home, to my Bible study leader, to my city, to my county, to my state, to my nation, to the Church, and of the world.

However, today, God, I pray in particular for our present president and the president elect. Help me to pray a great deal more for them each day and help this be a burning desire for me to do so. Lord, help them lead and make decisions according to biblical values, no matter what they might call them. I also ask that You bring them to Jesus Christ. Or, if they are followers of Christ, help them to pray the Bible without ceasing. Make all of their ways be biblical ways. And, I pray the same for their family and friends.

Help our leaders make this nation under God and in God we trust in a deeper, more Holy way than this nation has ever seen.

I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, and by the power of his blood and resurrection.

Pray about the U.S. presidential elections

Forgive me, friends, for posting two blog posts in one day. However, I think you will learn this about me. If I do, it is for a very good reason and I try not to make a habit of doing so. Please give me grace for this today. However, with what happened last night, I thought it was important for me to address the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections and what happened last night.

Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race.

Donald Trump is now the heir apparent, so to speak.

My husband and I received several emails and texts about this and people wondered how we could be so calm about this. Here is how:

We are voting for a platform, not a person. The Republican platform is the only one that lines up with biblical principles. They do not believe in abortion or socialism or fascism. They call terror terror.

We vote for our president and commander-in-chief, not our pastor-in-chief.

Voting is not about emotions, it is about principles.

We know who is really in charge. God is and no one else. We either trust God or we don't. And, here is a hint. If we say we trust God, and follow with a but, however, or if, or any kind of discourse, then we really don't trust  Him.

None of this is a surprise to God.

Voting for the woman who lied about Benghazi, who refuses to fight terror, and who did not properly handle classified information with her email, and who believes in abortion is not the one we should vote for biblically. If she cannot properly handle our national security, she cannot (and should not) be trusted.

Pray that Trump wins and that he lives and presides over the country with biblical values. Pray this every second of every day. Prayers can and will and do make a difference. We can pray for him so much that he can be the best president ever, regardless of how he appears, if we all take praying seriously, and we should. Then, he could be the best man of God and biblical values in the office. Our prayers can make him that way.

So, stop worrying and fretting and complaining. Pray instead that he becomes a God-fearing, Bible-centered man, who leads with those values and that he makes the U.S. Truly one nation under God again.

This is our obligation. Pray. And, vote for him, not for Hillary, and not a blank ballot. The latter actually give Hillary the vote. Not going to the polls is something we will have to answer to one day. Part of rendering to Caesar is voting. Part of our biblical obligation is voting. So, pray and vote. These are the only two things that can save our nation.