A few days ago, I received an email through my personal mail account that really got me thinking. This particular message had a number of points that I will only briefly summarize (full email text can be found at the bottom of this article):
- Original message from a strong prayer warrior in Arizona
- Christians should not resign themselves to an Obama presidency
- Christians who do so are weak and apathetic
- God waits patiently for us to pray to stop Obama, that evil, evil man
- McCain may not be able to stop Obama on his own, but God can.
- George Bush is buffeted because he fought against evil.
- Pray and pass this email around.
Proper Prayer
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]‘ (Matthew 6:9-13)
Jesus, seeing that there were those who were praying improperly, specifically laid out a basic “prayer outline” for His disciples to follow. The part to be focused on here is in verse 10:
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Is it God’s will that only Christians serve in positions of political authority? Is it God’s will that John McCain be president of these United States? Is it God’s will that Barack Obama not be president of these United States?
If it is God’s will that Obama be elected to the presidency, and one prays against Obama being president, that one prays against the will of God. If it is not God’s will that McCain be elected and one prays that McCain be elected, again, one prays against the will of God.
In either case, assumptions must be made: McCain is good, righteous, Christian. Obama is evil, unrighteous, unsaved. God thinks as we do. God’s will is constrained by our prayers.
We are to pray that God’s will be done whether we like the outcome or not. The children of Israeal were not happy that God would use a heathen king from the east to protect them and to restore them to their homelands, but that is exactly what God did through Cyrus. Who are we to presume to know the thoughts of God? Who are we to presume to know the heart of other men?
Pray for your Leaders
So, with that in our mind, how then are we to pray for our leaders? Paul answers that question for us in his letter to Timothy.
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
Like it or not, Barack Obama is a leader in this nation. He has been lawfully elected to the office of Senator. That means he falls into the category of persons listed here in 1 Timothy.
Christians are to pray FOR Senator Obama and not AGAINST him. The commentary Matthew Henry says the following regarding this passage:
we must pray for them, and we must give thanks for them, pray for their welfare and for the welfare of their kingdoms, and therefore must not plot against them, that in the peace thereof we may have peace, and give thanks for them and for the benefit we have under their government, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
When was the last time you gave thanks for Senator Obama, or any Senator for that matter? When was the last time that you asked God to grant wisdom to a specific leaders? Are your prayers for leaders general in nature? Or do you really pray for them by name?
Conclusion
The world is to see Christ through us. When you are out waiving your Red Republican Flag or your Blue Democrat Flag (yes, there are Christian Democrats!) does the world see you or or does it see Jesus? When you are being disobedient to the Word and are not praying as you should, on what ground do you stand to judge a leader? Are you following the way of the Master, who Himself said “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36) or are you seeking that your own will be done?
PS: Where does it say in scripture that prayer moves mountains?
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Subject: Prayer Can Move Mountains…Soooooooo
This came to me from a dear friend and prayer warrior in Arizona – not only is she a strong Christian, but she has been involved in presidential campaigns back as far as Ronald Regan (maybe even before then – ) – this is not some “internet circulating” email – it is from Elizabeth’s own heart and well worth our heeding as Christians.
From: ELIZABETH ROHN-NELSON
Subject: Prayer can move mountains, why not Obama?
Being dismayed recently when a family member of mine said to me with great resignation that Obama will take the presidency. These words came from someone who in the past has been a great prayer warrior.
What is happening was my question??? Why are we Christians settling and not issuing a battle cry and falling to our knees and taking our country back?
We allow ourselves to be stripped of the right to pray at school functions and in school, we have the 10 commandments removed from government places and are told we cannot pray in school, all the while providing public prayer places for Muslims. What in the world is going on and why are we being apathetic?
Why aren’t we praying? Our God is a mighty God who is waiting patiently for us to raise our voices to heaven to stop the tide of the anti-Christ actions in our world today. Now we find we have a charismatic candidate for president who does not respect our flag and refuses to wear one on his lapel except when it becomes politically expedient and whose own wife and pastor that he loves profess to have strong anti-white feelings, and we sit back and say “it is a given, we can do nothing.”
There has never been a time in 2000 years that we can do nothing, never a time that we must sit back and allow the evil in men’s and women’s hearts to take over our world. We should be very afraid because our apathy is leading us to perdition.
It is time for all Christian Americans to raise the battle cry and take our nation back. Maybe McCain on his own cannot defeat Obama, but our God can and He will if we take to our knees in prayer and raise a mighty cry to the heavens to “Save us O Lord.” We have the power to change the course of this election and to keep a man as suspect as Barak Obama from leading our country to who knows where with his message of “change” – a change which I fear will be away from our Christian ideals and away from Christ and further away from one nation under God.
We are great at passing stories and pictures around the internet, but where are our prayers and prayer warriors praying to stop this tide of Barak Obama? God parted the red sea, Jesus raised himself from the dead, and we can bring our country back to its Christian roots and stop the move to the rise of Muslims in our country. We can stop our country from being “under Allah,” but we must begin to pray, to pray as if our country and our lives depended on it, because they do. We can stop all these atrocities against God’s commands that have taken root in our country through something as simple as sincere prayer, a call to God to deliver us, to forgive us our sins of apathy and to protect us from the evil that is upon us.
Okay prayer warriors, here is your challenge, start those prayer chains. Get the spiritual power working on our behalf and stop Barak Obama the proper way, by calling on our God to save us from the deception that charismatic preaching is using to lead us on the wrong path. Stop those who would take God out of our country and our government. Raise up good men to lead us and protect us.
George Bush is being buffeted because he has fought a holy war against the evils that attack us and we should not be surprised because a prophet is not honored in his own country. But we should not rest on our laurels and allow ourselves to be taken further off the path of Christianity and to have God removed from our presence in our schools, courts, government and businesses. Invite God into the fray. Ask that His power rest upon us and give us the victory. Ask him to raise up a mighty army to defend us and to protect our country as he did in days of old. Let us be victorious beginning NOW. The battle is His but we must call on Him without ceasing and unite our voices and hearts in prayer and fasting.
Please pass this around to all people of prayer that you know and maybe, just maybe a more eloquent person of prayer will write something better and more inspiring and even the rocks will shout that Jesus is Lord and our Mighty God is with us, bringing the victory for us and ultimately for Him.
“Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thess 5:16-18
