A Prayer For The U.S. Presidential Election

I shared this prayer first with a group of Charlotte District Clergy, at the invitation of George Thompson. I then led a group of Providence members in reflecting on it, using something of a lectio divina format, on a Wednesday evening. It has been posted on the Methoblog website, on the General Board of Discipleship website (UMC) and on the Upper Room website. Several friends have been gracious enough to circulate it, among them Leighton Ford, and it has been said in congregations from Texas to North Carolina and even as an invocation at a rally for Joe Biden in Florida (I would welcome its use by any candidate). Our congregation will pray these words in the services on Sunday morning. A good friend (Elizabeth Graves) added to it; she serves a rural parish and shaped the prayer to acknowledge our abuse of the land and gratitude for those who have cared for the earth. I greatly appreciate this insight, and the prayer is improved by the addition. I would welcome your use of it and circulation of it to anyone who might benefit from this prayer; I would especially be grateful to congregations who use it as an act of worship this weekend.

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Creator of us all:
you are the source of every blessing,
the judge of every nation
and the hope of earth and heaven.

We pray to you on the eve of this important and historic election.

We call to mind the best that is within us:

That we live under God,
that we are indivisible,
that liberty and justice extend to all.
We acknowledge the sin that runs through our history as a nation:

The displacement of native peoples, racial injustice,
desecration of your creation, economic inequity, regional separation.

And yet we profess a deep and abiding gratitude
for the goodness of ordinary people who have made sacrifices,
who have sought opportunities,
who have passionately loved and cared for the earth and its fruits,
who have journeyed to this land as immigrants
strengthening its promise in successive generations,
who have found freedom on these shores,
and defended this freedom at tremendous cost.

Be with us in the days that are near.
Remind us that your ways are not our ways,
that your power and might transcend the plans of every nation,
that you are not mocked.

Let those who follow your Son Jesus Christ
be a peaceable people in the midst of division.

Send your Spirit of peace, justice and freedom upon us,
break down the walls of political partisanship,
and make us one.

Give us wisdom to walk in your ways,
courage to speak in your name,
and humility to trust in your providence.

Amen.