Next week's general election isn't just about who will run the executive branch of the U.S. government for the next four years. There's much more.
Republicans seek to expand their slim majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats are pushing for an upset that will put the House back in their hands, as it was from 2019-2023. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans hope to regain a majority in the upper house after losing it nearly four years ago.
The federal races, as critical as they may be, are only the tip of the election iceberg. All 50 states have state legislative races on the ballot, and eleven states will choose a governor. Plus, there are elections across America for judgeships, city councils, county commissions, and school boards, along with key ballot measures such as state constitutional amendments.
Politics and government aren't the be-all and end-all of life (thank God!), but the outcomes of election contests are crucial. They shape the nation, the states, and the communities we live in. They affect national security, public safety, levels of taxation, religious freedom, education quality, the legal system, and — over time — many people's perceptions of "right" and wrong."
Our call to prayer
A couple of weeks ago (in a blog comment), SMI reader GordonD offered a helpful Scriptural reminder about responsibility as citizens. He quoted from Jeremiah 29:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon....
[S]eek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:4,7)
As Christians, our "citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20), so we are in a type of "exile" in this life, although certainly not fully analogous to what the Israelites faced. Still, Jeremiah 29 clearly sets forth the idea that we should "seek the welfare" of the place where we live and "pray to the LORD on its behalf."
Thumbing an old prayer book over the weekend, I found two prayers that, despite somewhat antiquated language, are timely and helpful in praying for our nation, states, and localities. The first is appropriate in the days before an election, and the second is appropriate at any time.
Before an election
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For the civil order
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In God We Trust
I hope you will pray those prayers and, of course, add your own petitions.
And whatever the particular outcomes next week, may we who follow Jesus Christ heed the words of Psalm 37:
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture....
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret — it leads only to evil....
Hope in the LORD and keep his way. (Psalm 37:3,8,34a)