Monday, August 1, 2011

Praying for Politicians

So, I don't know about you guys, but I have been crabby lately.  I try to be a well informed guy, watch the news, read up on things in the world, etc.  But the dealing with our national debt and debt-limit crisis has been really tough to watch.  I know I've yelled at the TV a lot, and I've agreed with Jon Stewart a lot.  And, in general I've been breaking one of my personal rules.  And that's to simply pray for my politicians.  If you're a Christian, I'd be curious as to where you stand on the issue of prayer for politicians.  For me, I try to practice what I preach, and this is to simply pray for all my elected officials.  And not to pray to change their mind, not to pray that they might agree with me more.  But simply to pray for their health, their safety, and their work.
I know most of us have pretty tough jobs, tougher than most on the outside would realize.  But being a politician today is really tough.  And, perhaps I'm naive, but I really believe that the vast majority of politicians get into the "biz" in order to serve others.  However now, perhaps more than ever, that's a tall request.  It seems that as soon as you get into office at least half of your constituency immediately is angry that you're there.  Not just disappointed, but angry.  And the half that isn't angry (yet) wants to see you fix all the things that were done wrong by the previous guy/gal or they'll get angry.  In the meantime, you have to immediately begin raising a ridiculous amount of money if you ever want a chance of being elected to your position again.
And in the midst of this, there's a huge pool of Christians throwing out to God a whole host of prayers about you.  And I want to include myself in that mix.  But, because of the nature of their jobs, and I think because of the nature of mine, I hope my prayer is heartfelt and simple.  I want to offer a prayer of care, love, and kindness.  No agenda, no politics.  Just prayer.  And, part of my hope is that if I'm doing this in my prayer life, I might be a little more gracious and loving in my day-to-day life and thoughts and conversations about said politicians.  That's where I've been failing lately.  My words about some politicians recently has not matched how I want to pray for those politicians.  Granted, these have been extraordinary times in the political world, but really, isn't it always an extraordinary time?  Isn't there always a crisis?  Isn't there always a time to choose kindness and civility in our words and in our prayers?
Anyway, as I'm writing this it's likely that our current political crisis is nearly over.  And in the aftermath, we'll talk about winners and losers, and who we'll never vote for again.  And, if you're a Christian, I hope you lift your leaders up in prayer.  Not with an agenda, not with malice, or with an attitude.  Just because some men and women spent a great deal of time at one of the hardest jobs in our world today.  And they need our prayer for it.

Don't go to church, Be the Church
Bill

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