A quick election night newsletter from Willow!
A quick election night newsletter from Willow!
This is an ad hoc newsletter issue on the topic of prayer on this election night.
Good evening. I am sending this ad hoc newsletter on the U.S. election day just as polling places are beginning to close in the Midwest.
For many, this is a time of anxiety and uncertainty, and it is a time of prayer.
This year, we are a divided nation with emotions running very high on both sides. At the same time, a growing number of Christians have publicly expressed their support for the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. Groups such as Faithful America, Evangelicals for Harris, Christians for Kamala, and Christian Democrats of America have rallied around her this year. In the past, it has long been perceived that being a Republican and being Christian were synonymous. Especially in the Evangelical space, voting for a Democrat was tantamount to apostasy.
The question one may ask is, what if Republicans and Democrats pray for an outcome that they desire? Would God take sides? How should we pray, then? Does God even hear our prayers? If so, someone's prayer is being heard and not the others, after all, there will only be one winner in this presidential election. Some people will be happy and some people will be upset, grateful for an answered prayer, or sorrowful for a prayer gone unanswered.
Maybe a football game between two Christian high schools is also a good illustration. In their respective locker rooms, coaches lead their teams in prayer, perhaps asking for victory. At the end of the game, either one of the teams wins.
Prayer occupies an important role in the lives of believers.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5 reads: Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (verses 16-18, CEB).
Yet, in popular culture, prayer is seen as a way to ask God for what they want. To many, prayer is like lobbying God to push their agenda, or like using God as a vending machine. Some prosperity preachers even promote a belief that if you pray very specifically, you can get specific desired results, as if God is a computer that executes a code that you write.
Theologian Soren Kierkegaard wrote, "The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."
Or, as I often say, prayer is like hacking one's own mind so that the mind aligns with the mind of God. What happens inside our minds is perhaps the only thing we have near total control over, and that is where spiritual battles are fought and freedom is achieved.
The kingdom of God is within (Luke 17:21) and it is our imperative to "capture every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 CEB). By transforming ourselves with the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), we bring the reign of heaven into our minds, and by extension, our actions become the eyes and hands of God in, by, and through us.
Regardless of whom you voted for, or what political party you belong to, we can pray for God's will to be done in our communities, our country, and in the world. And what is God's will? Loving one another as ourselves, pursuing justice, walking humbly, and being peacemakers -- and not oppressing strangers. The scriptures point to the directions we ought to go. So it is more productive to pray for the ultimate goals we desire (for example, a society where everyone enjoys freedom and is not marginalized or oppressed, than praying for Kamala Harris to win this election). In doing so, we do not micromanage God through prayer trying to dictate how it should be done, but rather, we prayerfully get out of God's way and let the Spirit work among us.
"Don't be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus." -- Phillippians 4:6-7 CEB.
Willow
p.s. For the sake of your sanity, please ignore exit polls and partial vote counts on TV tonight. They do not tell you much and are often misleading.