Election Prayer

As we near election day in the United States on November 5th, the worship committee wants to make sure we all have ways to stay prayerfully grounded in our faith. Each Tuesday leading up to and including election day, you are encouraged to pray the prayer below on you own at 6pm, knowing that others will be praying with you in spirit. And if you’d like to tune in, Pastor Steve will be leading this prayer on the church’s Facebook page each of those days. Here is our prayer: 

Holy God, Lord of all, 

Thank you for this day, for this life, for all the things that give our lives meaning and joy. God, we trust in you more than any other government or leader, but Lord, you have given us a faith and values to shape our lives. You command us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to love our enemies and to seek peace with our siblings.  Help us as we prepare to vote, as we await results, as we live each day to be led in your paths of goodness and righteousness. Lead us away from prejudice and fear but guide us with truth and hope.  Help us live with your kin-dom ethic to create an inclusive, just and equitable society, where each person’s intrinsic worth is honored as your beloved child.

We thank you for those who have answered the call to lead as servants in our communities. Guide those candidates for office and those who become our elected officials to seek and promote justice for all, to serve in humility and honesty, and to pursue wisdom and understanding.  

Today, we specifically pray for:

Oct. 15: local level candidates, their families, staff and volunteers

Oct. 22: state level candidates, their families, staff and volunteers

Oct. 29: national level candidates, their families, staff and volunteers

Nov. 5: our country, for poll workers and election officials, for folks who feel anxious or exhausted or those who feel disenfranchised, for wisdom, courage and patience for what the future holds

At a moment in our country’s history when we seem more divided than ever: we join our hearts in this prayer to the God who unites us all. Holy God, we pray for peace in our land. The challenges of creating a more just world are tiring and sometimes grueling. So give us courage. Give us wisdom. But especially give us joy. May our church be a shelter for those who need love and acceptance, for we are all one family. Still our anxieties, O God, and point us toward the way of love for all with whom we live and walk, work and play, tend and love.  And may our voting be the beginning and not the end of our engagement with the systems of power in our world, joining with God in the work of creation and re-creation.

In Jesus’ holy name we hope, we work and we pray. Amen.

--prayer adapted from Liturgical Resources for Election Season by the Clergy Emergency League, ed. Rev. Stephen M. Fearing, published by the Wisconsin Counsil of Churches