We won’t get any closer to God's will than praying prayers based on His own Word. Feel free to pray using these verses, as well as other prayers the Lord places in your heart, between now and November 5, 2024.
We’re living in a significant time.
There are many reasons why the above statement is true. Perhaps chief among them is the fact that an election is rapidly approaching.
Voters will elect influential individuals who will fill public offices—from the highest to the lowest—with power to mold this nation for better or worse.
Included in the election? The identity of the next president and vice president of the US.
Which is why I’m calling Christians everywhere to pray for the upcoming election.
The Bible has made it clear: prayer works (James 5:16). What is impossible for humans is possible for God (Luke 18:27). But it’s prayer that transforms the impossible into possible.
Maybe that’s why God exhorted us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Jesus crafted a parable in Luke 18:1-8 to demonstrate as much.
As we draw closer to Election Day in November, therefore, let’s pray for more than just our personal needs. Important as we are—as individuals—to God, He also values America as a nation.
This nation has served as a world leader. As reflected in the popular saying, “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold.”
The saying rings true because what happens in America tends to influence other nations to implement similar concepts.
So? We’re still months away from the election.
I can understand if this is your reaction. There’s a reason I’m issuing this invitation months before the November election. A fierce spiritual warfare, meant to pollute the nation with ungodly values and practices, has been raging in our cities and states. Combating such pressure needs to be done relentlessly, but through spiritual means.
Like through prayer and fasting.
Christians can’t afford to assume a laidback attitude when it comes to interceding for the nation.
But what if you don’t live in America or even like Americans?
I still humbly ask you to pray for the US. If you care about your own nation, and if you care about how the world is shaping up, then please allocate some time to pray for America’s upcoming election. That’s because America’s global reach can determine, to a degree, the future of your nation, too.
Let’s not rush through this point. If you’ve been hurt by America in any way, before you can sincerely intercede for this nation, you may need to do some forgiving first—for America, her leaders, or any individual American who has hurt you. Even if nobody else acknowledges what you’ve gone through, God knows. He sees what you or your family have suffered. He is the One who will exact judgment on your behalf (Hebrews 10:30).
Besides, if you have a grudge against the US and you’re praying for America anyway, you’ll be doing something very biblical—praying for your enemy (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:28).
Thank you for doing that.
Below, you’ll find three major categories of prayers consisting of 10 Bible verses. It’s important to base your prayers on verses because of the promise in 1 John 5:14-15: “And this is the confidence that we have toward [God], that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (ESV).
Since we want our prayers for America answered, we need to pray according to His will.
We won’t get any closer to His will than praying prayers based on His own Word.
Feel free to keep praying using these verses, as well as other prayers the Lord places in your heart, between now and November 5, 2024.
For the Nation
1. Pray for America to return to God. After all, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 33:12). Ask God to give Americans the heart to know Him: “I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7, NASB).
2. Pray for everyone in the nation to have a personal encounter with Jesus. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ (John 14:6, BSB).
3. Pray for America to be redeemed from all troubles. If David could pray for God to redeem his nation out of all their troubles, we can pray for America similarly. “Our God, please save [America] from all its troubles” (Psalm 25:22, CEV).
4. Pray for God to deliver America. Matthew 25:31-33 makes it clear that when Jesus returns, He will separate nations, not mere individuals, from one another. As such, we can use David’s pleas for God as a point of contact for America. “Be pleased, o Lord, to deliver [America]; hurry, o Lord, to help [America]” (Psalm 40:13, BSB).
For Political Candidates
5. Pray for God to reveal hidden things about every candidate on the ballot (not just the presidential/vice presidential ones) so that voters will know the truth about them: “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open” (Mark 4:22).
6. Pray for God to give us shepherds after His own heart: “Then I'll appoint wise rulers who will obey me, and they will care for you like shepherds” (Jeremiah 3:15, CEV).
7. Ask God to raise believers to fill future political vacancies, across the nation, beyond the current election cycle. “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him” (Psalms 4:3, NASB1995).
Against the Increasing Darkness
8. Pray for God to arise and push back every wicked influence: “Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.” (Psalm 68:1, NKJV).
9. Pray for God to soften hearts so that everyone will repent (or have a change of heart) without delay. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV).
10. Pray for Christians to stay alert so as not to be ensnared: “Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them” (Ecclesiastes 9:12, NASB).
Especially for American Christians
If you’re American and Christian both, I have a question for you. Who will win your vote?
Since you have a responsibility before God to cast your vote, skipping the election isn’t viable. Neither is choosing the candidates whom your circle of influence approves. You don’t need to be a people-pleaser who only follows the majority, especially when it comes to matters as crucial as determining the future leaders of America. Elections have been won by single-digit votes.
Also, please refrain from picking candidates randomly. Don’t reduce your civic right and duty to a game of eeny-meeny-miny-moe.
In addition to praying for the election, ask God to show you who to vote for. Fast if need be.
Then, come November 5, 2024, please vote.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/liveslow
