Pray for President and Nation
This morning as our pastor asked us to turn to the book of Haggai for the reading of the Bible, he said, “I hope I am saying this name correctly.” My wife leaned over and asked me if his pronunciation was correct. I responded by saying “Whatever way he chooses to pronounce it is correct to me.”
After hearing professors pronounce Nehemiah, Deborah and other biblical names and places in ways I would have never imagined, I am more accepting of the way anyone pronounces a name from the Bible.
Tomorrow begins the start of a new presidency of our nation. Since becoming eligible to vote, I have always voted for the office of president of the United States. Some elections, I have voted for a Democrat; sometimes I have voted for a Republican. I don’t vote for a party. I vote for a person that I think will be best for all Americans.
Sometimes my choices have won; sometimes my choices have lost. When my choices have won, I’ve been happy; when they have lost, I’ve been truly disappointed and heartbroken. Why?
Throughout election years, I pray for God to place the right person in the place of leadership of our great nation. Needless to say, when my choices have not won, I have wondered why God did not intervene for my choice. Wasn’t my choice His choice after my many prayers?
What I have learned over the years is that sometimes my choices and God’s choices are not the same. I would have preferred being married in my twenties. I married when I was 40. I’m glad it happened in God’s timing, because I met the love of my life later in life.
I don’t know what is in store for us as a nation as a new person takes office tomorrow, but then again, I didn’t know what was in store for us when Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama were elected either. Once they were elected, whether I voted for them or not, they became my president. From that day forward, I prayed for them because they need our prayers.
On Friday night, I watched a program about workers in America. I did not like what I saw. People working two or three jobs and still not making ends meet is not right in a nation as rich as ours. Likewise, I know what it is like to be a super commuter. One time I drove four hours a day to and from work. It was not a very enjoyable experience. We do what we have to do to make a living.
I would not wish a super commute on anyone. Nor would I wish someone a life of two or three jobs at a time to barely make ends meet. I do not wish for working parents to be unable to give their children the basic necessities of life because of the inequity that exists in workplaces today.
This, my dear friends, is why I pray. I pray that the person, who leads our nation, will make it a place where we can all move forward, not simply a select few.
God has richly blessed us as a nation; we should in turn do our part in helping make the lives of all better. Please pray without ceasing for our new president and pray without ceasing for our nation. Pray that we will ALL be happier and richer in the days, weeks and years ahead. There is no reason for us not to be if we all think as much of others as we do ourselves.