Click here for the video of Jack and his prayer.
Like me, each of you is struggling to master life and the living of it in the Pandemic. The Pandemic has caused us to suffer in ways we could never have imagined even as recently as February this year. We have lost many things. Sleep. Financial security. Jobs. Loved ones. Peace. Comfort. Going to church. Gathering to observe and celebrate births, baptisms, weddings, funeral services, and reunions to name a few. But, none of us have lost the right to vote. We still have the right millions of others in the world long for, still fight for, and yet may never have. In November we can each cast our vote for the candidates who will best lead us out of the Pandemic and protect and preserve the rights guaranteed to us under the American Constitution.
America has a lot of problems. Voting enables us to be part of the solutions to make America an even better reflection of democracy. A democracy which allows each of us to be safe, to be free, to nurture and grow our God-given talents, and to equally participate in its private and public institutions, no matter what our differences are in race, color, creed, condition, sexual identity or whether one is a man or woman or whether one is in a wheelchair, like me, blind or disabled.
Perhaps one of the overarching strengths of our Nation is measured in its diversity and inclusiveness among all its people. In our hearts, what if the place to vote was located on Ellis Island, at the Statue of Liberty, or at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial? Would we be called to vote with the enlightenment of the Founders of our Nation? The co-signers of the Declaration of Independence?
Although there is the separation of church and state, God has spoken in Scripture about the importance of who our elected officials are if we are to be a nation that acts and leads as one under God.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
Exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
If we are to pray for our leaders to ensure we have such a life in all goodness, we all must go a step further to do our part in electing them. Like the muscles I had to exercise after polio, the right to vote, if not exercised, is lost and wasted. Democracy will atrophy and die.
Heavenly Father – As Citizens of the greatest country on Earth, we thank You for all the blessings of living in America, one Nation under You, our God.
God, as we exercise our Constitutional right to vote, please guide us in prayer to select the best candidates.
God, we pray to You that those we elect across our Nation will be ones who afford America the greatest opportunity to heal and unify its people, to restore civility and peace, to respect and embrace the diversity among its people, to exercise fiscal responsibility, and to give this and future generations the greatest opportunity to live, love, worship and flower in Your Kingdom.
God, may the exercise of our precious right to vote find pleasure in Your sight. Amen.
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If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.
Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.