I live in the U.S. in the State of California and I voted this morning.
Did my Christian world view influence the way I voted? Sure. How could it not. I’m also a 65-year-old woman. That also influenced the way I voted. So did the sum total of my life experience.
So now I await the results, along with the residents of this state, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. The final primary is next week when the District of Columbia votes.
Of course, these are only the primaries. The general election date is November 8th.
And every presidential election year I pray. I began praying back in April last year.
“This prayer is also for all the believers who will follow [these disciples] and hear them speak. Father, may they all be one as You are in Me and I am in You; may they be in Us, for by this unity the world will believe that You sent Me.
“All the glory You have given to Me, I pass on to them. May that glory unify them and make them one as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)
Why do we allow The Enemy to throw us into disunion over anger or litmus tests?
How many give The Enemy a foothold by ranting on Facebook, “liking” or retweeting a negative comment, telling or passing along a sarcastic political joke, or refusing or forgetting to pray for those in office?
How many choose to protest with fists and angry words? Applaud the arrogant and proud rather than humble and courteous? How many prefer those who can shout the loudest rather than those who listen and work for peace and unity? (Matthew 5:3-9)
How many, if the person you vote for is not elected, are already determined to pass along your anger to others, to become bitter and cynical, to refuse any attempt at peacemaking or unity?
“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.” (Matthew 5:21-22 The Message)
Why is unity so difficult for those of us who call ourselves Christians? Why do we make life difficult for each other, disown each other and tell each other we’re going to hell if we disagree doctrinally
with each other? Do you know how many different theological doctrines exist? The images shown are from the table of contents from only one book* – 323 pages of seventeen different doctrines and 2-4 different sides of each of those doctrines. Doctrine is merely man-made and though it may be based on Scripture, it is still widely interpreted.
Jesus did not pray for us to be one with doctrine. He prayed for us to be one with Him and with the Father.
The Holy Spirit is in us in order to accomplish this oneness. If we ignore the Spirit of God and instead worship doctrine or agendas or a person running for office, aren’t we guilty of idolatry? Haven’t we walked away from our First Love? If we have, we must turn back, and remember what the Gospel is truly about. (Revelation 2:4-5)
Dear Lord,
May You hear again this faithful refrain of the words Jesus prayed: may we be as one as You and Your Son and the Spirit are as one; may we all be as one in You as You are in us. In that oneness, may be treat each other with love, grace and dignity, and in that unity show the world who You are in us.
May we remember this today and every day throughout the rest of this year. May we pray for all our leaders, whoever they are, that they would seek to lead justly and compassionately, and that they would seek to be peacemakers and unifiers. Amen
Susan Irene Fox 
In your anger – do not sin. Ephesians 4:26. Yes we get angry about things but anger blinds us and it makes us do things we would never do if we thought before speaking or acting. I will say if I vote my conscience, I won’t vote. I have to vote for someone and believe me I have been praying since we had the first string of candidates. Tough, tough, tough, this one.
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It is tough, and unfortunately I think many people are going to sit this one out. I pray that doesn’t happen, but I suppose if it does, it will be with God’s permission that the winner takes the (throne) presidency, for whatever reason.
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Anger feeds anger and, at the same time, ups the ante. Fear breeds more fear; as do half-truths (lies) and put-downs. Prayer for our current and future leaders disarms us and reminds us we’re part of the problem when we neglect praying for our leaders, and choose to follow our fears or gorge on anger and self-righteous pronouncements. It’s a constant challenge for all of us, I think. It certainly is for me. Thanks for a timely post, Susan.
Elouise
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Brilliant addition to the conversation, Elouise. It is definitely a constant challenge for all of us to be part of the solution in stead of part of the problem. Thank you for uplifting the discussion to another level.
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You got me going! 🙂
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🙂
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This whole process has been so stressful. I cannot wait until November 9, now. I prayed for an outcome myself. I want good, loving, kind people running this country. I am sick of nastiness and ugliness. It just baffles me that anyone would vote for people who exhibit these traits.
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Agree. I think once the final primary is over (June 14), Bernie will climb aboard the Hillary train. My guess is he has waited to ensure his policy concerns will be part of the Democratic ticket, and they should be. Once that happens, I think his followers will get on board, too.
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Won’t it be nice in Heaven where we won’t be voting on anything? I agree that most people do not pray for those in office. We are a nation that needs spiritual change….Godly guidance.
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Absolutely right about the change and guidance, Dale. And yes, it certainly will be nice – joyful, in fact – when there will be no voting, no tears, no anger at all. 🙂
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Super post, Susan!! I can hardly bear to see any more of the unrest and ugliness surrounding this election. Luke you, I will pray ♡ (and vote!)
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All prayers count, Lorrie! ❤
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AMEN!! ❤
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The Spirit of God is calling those that will hear back to the Lord.In unity and prayer. You could just hear God of he was in a town to speak. Now this is for the Baptist.I think not. This is for the church in California is what he would say. I say yes and amen to all of this post. The enemy is decieving the church . Wake up and know the love of Jesus for mankind, there is nothing to fear . I could go on. Susan so needs to be bathed in prayer and love.
Blessings
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I think the whole country needs to be bathed in prayer, Tom.
Today, now that all but one of the primaries are over, we all need to pray and need the warnings to be unified, to stop the name calling, to let go of anger, and to embrace each other as children of God.
Whether we identify as Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran…I could go on. We are united under a Triune God. We have that in common. And rather than looking for ways we are different, we need to begin right now looking for ways we can glorify Him through our speech an actions.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
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Beautiful Susan!
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Thanks, Mike.
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Well lamented Susan. 🙂
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Just being completely honest, Paul. Thanks for stopping by.
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i was actually intending “lament”in the Biblical way – God seems t
o respect and acknowledge a good lament as a part of his gift to us through Grace. As one example:
“Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations.” 2 Chronicles 35:25
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Thank you. I appreciate that.
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Excellent words during a very difficult time for our country. The choices are not perfect, and they are very difficult. It is time now, more than ever that we focus on our Savior, following Him, and sharing the good news.
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Absolutely, Pete. I’m not sure we could be more divided or more angry. It almost seems as though we’ve adopted anger as our new gospel. Anger does not = righteousness.
We must, as you said so perfectly, “focus on our Savior, following Him, and share the good news.” And as Jesus said, the only way people will know we are His followers is by loving one another.
Thank you so very much for you thoughtful comments.
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As a Christian Minister, I agree with 100%
At the same time, can we base our opinion on anything else than what our believes are? In my opinion NO, we are what our believes are.
Love, Health and Wealth
Alex Moses
https://alifeanswer.com/
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Absolutely, Alex, that’s why I said what I did right at the beginning – full disclosure. It’s the “after the voting” I was speaking to. We seem to be such an angry nation right now. I’m simply attempting to bring our focus back to where it ought to be; on the One who sacrificed everything for us before we had opinions. The One who generously provides unending grace and mercy, new every day.
Perhaps we could find a little to give away, a little to pay forward.
Thank you for visiting, reading and adding your thoughtful comments, Alex.
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Thank you Susan for such detailed reply, and paying attention to your comments, most people ignore them…
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You’re very welcome, Alex.
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“How many give The Enemy a foothold by ranting on Facebook, “liking” or retweeting a negative comment, telling or passing along a sarcastic political joke, or refusing or forgetting to pray for those in office?” A very telling question indeed!
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I wanted to get people thinking. 🙂
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