5 Ways to Pray for Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
Whether you are happy about this week’s election results or not, all Christians must unite in prayer for our new president and VP. Please don’t forsake this responsibility for they need God’s help and direction.*
This election was one of the angriest and most nerve-wracking presidential campaign I have ever witnessed. Thank God the endless robot phone calls and mailings have stopped. The debates, and the annoying post-debate comments from “experts,” are now history.
Half the nation is celebrating today while others are mourning. We are a nation that is divided, split into fragments by abortion, gay marriage, global warming, racial tensions and economic problems. Those who voted for Donald Trump have claimed a historic victory; some on Hillary Clinton’s side are already looking for scapegoats. Politics is politics.
But the fact is that God is still on the throne. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, the Bible says “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Ps. 103:19). Paul reminds us that, “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Rom. 13:1). You may boast about the United States being “the greatest nation on earth,” but God has a different perspective. Let’s take a big sigh of relief now and remember that God is sovereign.
Now that the election is over, I have a biblical responsibility to support the new president in prayer—even if I question his character and policies. Here are 5 ways I plan to intercede for him regularly:
1. Pray for protection for Trump, Pence, and their families. It is not easy to live under constant media scrutiny. They will face loud-mouthed reporters, aggressive cameras, noisy protesters, and dangerous enemies. Cover their wives and children in your prayer. Pray for Melania Trump and their children: Ivanka Trump (Daughter); Donald Trump Jr. (Son); Tiffany Trump (Daughter); Eric Trump (Son); Barron Trump (Son). Don’t for get to pray for our Vice President, Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence; their Children: Michael Pence (Son); Charlotte Pence (Daughter); Audrey Pence (Daughter).
2. Pray that Trump and Pence will govern with God’s wisdom. I understand that they have asked God for wisdom to lead this nation. The Lord rewarded Solomon because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth, long life or vengeance on his enemies (1 Kings 3:11-12). Despite Solomon’s tragic character flaws, his legacy was wisdom. We can ask God to give our president the same grace. In Washington DC there is the deadly attraction of fame, wealth and power that is a constant temptation. Pray that the Lord will deliver them from the curse of pride.
3. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround him. Leaders cannot do their job alone. Even the best leaders have failed because they trusted the wrong people. Pray that Trump will not select his counselors based on party, race, pedigree or political associates but on godly character and proven wisdom. Pray that Trump, who claims to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, will unapologetically welcome Godly counsel and that false religious leaders (who claim to know Christ but deny His power) will not get his ear. His VP, Mike Pence is a strong Christian and needs our prayers as well.
4. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our president. Billy Graham explains the reality of spiritual warfare in his book Angels: “We live in a perpetual battlefield…The wars among the nations on earth are mere popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in the spiritual unseen world. This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, Satan’s forces hinder; where angel beings carry out divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God… Night and day Lucifer, the master craftsman of the devices of darkness, labors to thwart God’s plan of the ages… Satan never yields an inch, nor does he ever pause in his opposition to the plan of God to redeem the “cosmos” from his control.” But your prayers make a difference (Eph. 6:12). Pray that no foreign government, terrorist organization or demonic principality will use Trump as a tool. We must stand strong against the spirit of antichrist that promotes the persecution of Christians and their values.
5. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during the Trump administration. The apostle Paul instructed early believers to pray for all in authority “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:2, NASB). God’s will is for America to experience peace so that we can continue to export the gospel to the nations. As we cry out for God’s mercy on our wayward nation, pray that He will allow us to be a light to the world as we finance global missions, feed and heal the world’s poor and share Christ’s love at home and abroad. Ask God for a spirit of reconciliation. Some want nothing to do with Trump now that he has won the presidency. Others are tempted to harbor resentment and nurse political grudges throughout his term in office. Pray that God will grant forgiveness and healing so that leaders on all political levels can have a constructive dialogue.
I want to close with this “Election Benediction” that was written by Kenneth Tanner. Let it ground you in the love, peace and security of Christ and his Kingdom.
“May you remember that all politics and all platforms and all legalities and all borders and all leaders are temporary. May you recall that political movements and boundaries and personalities and programs are here one day and gone the next. All of these are passing away.
“May you resist the temptation to place ultimate trust in any person, policy, party, movement, or nation—even a beautiful idea that is embodied by a nation—because there is no nation with an eternal foundation. May you know that your kingdom is not of this world but of the world that is coming to this world and that is not yet here. May you in the same breath grasp that engagement with the things of this world—not escape from its harsher, darker realities—is the sacrificial pattern of Jesus Christ.
“May you discover your role in the just and merciful governance of the world God made good and pursue that cosmos-converting vocation with love amid the world’s brokenness and grittiness. May you see your work in the world—all of your callings and activities—as a participation in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. May you have strength and beauty and determination and wisdom as you love your neighbor and your enemy as Christ has loved you, seeking with all persons to bring justice, mercy, and lasting peace.
“May you comprehend that your salvation is not dependent on who you vote for in an election, or in whether or not you vote; that you are under no biblical or theological or moral obligation to vote for a person or party or proposal or initiative if that vote violates your conscience. May you be grateful for the opportunity to participate in your government and if you choose not to participate in the election may you find ways to make that non-participation more than a protest, and may you find tangible ways to help and protect the poor and oppressed who might have been helped or shielded by your vote.
“May you realize that the kingdom of God is within you and that the Son of God sets you free even as you vote for whomever your conscience dictates, without anxiety or fear, for the Spirit the Father gives us does not make us timid, but bestows on us power, love, and self-discipline.
“May your posture toward every human leader be driven by respectful prayer, and where protest and prophecy and non-violent resistance are needed, may you have the courage to speak and oppose and critique in humility and charity.
“May you perceive God’s love for creation in sending Jesus to embody a New Humanity, and may you join in Christ’s care for the earth and all its creatures and resources, for we await with patience not only the coming of the Son in the flesh but his perfect bride, a people who beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. May you trust that Providence is working behind the scenes of history to draw all things to a good and fitting and proper end with justice and mercy. Amen.”
*I took some thoughts form an article 8 years ago in Charisma Magazine by J. Lee Grady.