.jpg)
The Father's Business Podcast
The Father's Business Podcast
Prayer for the Election and those in Authority
Could a spiritual practice be the guiding light through the stormy seas of political uncertainty? As the United States approaches a pivotal election, we explore the profound impact that prayer can have on shaping a peaceful and godly society. Join me, Elizabeth Gunter Powell, as I take the helm solo this week on The Father's Business Podcast. We'll explore the powerful scriptural call from 1 Timothy to pray for those in authority, urging us to prioritize prayer over opinion and the potential for transformation it holds. With elections stirring the nation, how can our faith guide us toward humility, cleansing, and healing for ourselves and our leaders? Through our conversation, we express trust in the divine story unfolding beyond our own understanding, assuring us that a spiritual authority guides us through life's uncertainties. We invite everyone, including our international listeners, to join us in a prayerful moment, laying our leaders before this enduring spiritual presence. Let us seek guidance from a source that remains constant, with the belief that God's dominion endures forever.
The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God. I'm Elizabeth Gunter Powell and I am Kimberly Roddy. Welcome to the Father's Business Podcast. We are so glad that you've joined us. Welcome everybody to this week's podcast. This is Elizabeth. Kimberly is not able to join us this week, but she'll be back with us next time.
Speaker 1:All of us are thinking about an election coming up here in the United States. Official voting day is next Tuesday, but many states are already doing early voting and you cannot go anywhere. I was just even in a store yesterday and the conversation that everyone's having is about what's going to happen in the election, and it's important. This is a strategic time in the history of our country, so we want to take time today to pray for the president and all in authority and all those who will be in authority, as we have elections not only at the national level, but the state, county, city level on next Tuesday. I want to make it abundantly clear as a nonprofit organization, we are not endorsing any candidates. We are simply asking for God to do what God wants to do with our country, and so we are in no way endorsing one candidate over the other, but we know that from 1 Timothy 2, 1 to 3, our part is to pray, it says. I urge you, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and it pleases God, our Savior, and I find it so interesting that, after we are commanded in Scripture in 1 Timothy to pray for kings and all of those in authority, that the next verse says this is good. It reminds me of when God was creating the world and he would got to the end of each day and he saw what he had did and he said it was good. There's a power to that word that it is good for us to pray for our authorities.
Speaker 1:If you're like most people probably myself included I spend more time expressing my opinions about what I think about a candidate than I do praying for them, and so the focus of our podcast today is to pray for those in authority over us. If you're listening to this from one of the many countries around the world that listens to us, you can pray along with us for our election we desperately need it, but also praying for your own authorities that you have over your nation, and this also pray this for church authorities that you have over you, your pastors. This also pray this for church authorities that you have over you, your pastors and others, elders and others in leadership. Pray it for your boss, who has a level of authority over you. Maybe in your family system there is someone who has a level of authority over you. There are many different ways that we can use these prayers, but I'm going to focus in our prayer time on those in government positions, simply because the election is coming up, but use this to pray for anyone who has a level of authority over you that you have to submit to. So let's pray.
Speaker 1:Father, son and Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours. You have complete rule and authority and sovereignty over all things, elite rule and authority and sovereignty over all things. You reign over everything, every nation, every office, every leader, and you are seated on your holy throne and, regardless of what happens in our lives and in our circumstances, your dominion endures forever. You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You have been that from the beginning, before there was even a world created, and you will be that long after this earth is no more. And so we praise you that you are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that, regardless of who is running our national or local governments, you are on your throne. And we praise you that you are faithful to answer the prayers of your people when we cry out to you to humble us, to cleanse us and to heal our land. To cleanse us and to heal our land. And so, god, our part and what we want to do today is to humble ourselves, to pray, to seek your face and, in our own lives, first, to turn from our wicked ways.
Speaker 1:It's really easy to point a finger at someone else and point out what they are not doing well, the ways they are in sin. But, father, would you start with us? Would you create in us a clean heart? O God, would you wash us and make us white as snow In any area of our lives where we are not living up to your holy standard? Would you come, comforter, holy Spirit, the one who convicts, and show us where we are not living up to your holy standard, so that we might be the vessel that you can use to speak to others? We do stand in your powerful name and by your power against all spiritual forces that are operating in our nation. Father, everything is subject to you. We stand against any deception, any belief that man can be their own God and decide what is right apart from your wisdom.
Speaker 1:Father, in our own lives and in the lives of our leaders, we ask for you to dethrone the idols where self is on the throne. Father, I ask for you to bring forth and expose all unfruitful deeds of darkness Again. First, shining a spotlight on our own hearts. Show us where we are deceived, as we so easily can be. But then, father, for everyone who will be in governmental authority over us, would you bring forth and show forth all unfruitful deeds of darkness? Your name is the name above all names. At your name, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God, the Father. So to all opposing powers trying to come against us personally, trying to come against our nation, trying to come against those that are governing over us, we say, as it says in Jude 1.9, the Lord rebuke you, father, where there is any deception or mesmerizing going on over this nation, we ask for you to push back to your holy boundaries.
Speaker 1:We pray Pagah prayers to the fullest extent that we have authority to pray. We are asking for you to push back the darkness and allow your light to shine. God, we pray for those people who are in authority over us that you would grant them repentance and that they would come to your cross to realize their personal sinfulness, their need of your salvation and their daily need of cleansing from sin. Father, would you call and woo your sons and daughters that are in places of authority over us to you to be healed, to be made whole? Father, where there are wounded places, and they are leading from those wounded places, would you come and be their Abba, help them understand what it means to be a covenant son or daughter of God Most High and allow them to feel the fullness of what it means to be truly loved and accepted by you and then to lead from a place of wholeness.
Speaker 1:God, I pray that the leaders that you place over us, all those in authority over us, would have the plumb line of the Word of God as they make decisions. I'm asking that you would help them to recognize, reject and resist all counsel and pressure that violates your Word and your kingdom agenda. Father, I'm asking for you to surround all of those in authority over us with wise counsel, with counsel that is not afraid to speak up and say what is true and what is right. Throughout scripture, you had times where prophets came to your servant, david, and called him out and said you are in sin. You used Esther to advise the king and save her people. Would you bring forth men and women of God into the most inner sanctums of the offices of all of those in authority over us? That would speak truth, that would speak wisdom and would speak guidance to those that are making the decisions for us?
Speaker 1:Father, I pray for our leaders, all of those in government authority over us, to reject every law policy that weakens your moral biblical law. God, we need the plumb line of your wisdom and your law in this country. I pray that they would humble themselves and admit their inadequacy to govern apart from you. I ask that you would help them to realize that the answers of the world are foolishness and acknowledge that you, god, have all wisdom and apart from you they can do nothing. God, the allure of power, the temptation towards power is so intoxicating and I am praying for you to raise up men and women who hate evil and love righteousness, and they rule in the fear of the Lord.
Speaker 1:I pray for you to raise up leaders that acknowledge that they are entirely accountable to you, god, for their actions and their decisions. I pray that they would rely on your truth that does not change, that they would rely on your word that endures forever. That out of the wellspring of their heart would come your wisdom. We pray for their character, god, that you would instill your divine righteousness into the character of our leaders and all of those in authority over us. Where they are lacking, we ask for you Spirit to come and fill them to overflowing. God. We pray for their families that they would be protected in the midst of all this. That our leaders would commit to their marriage covenants and to be a parent to their children that loves them in the love of all this. That our leaders would commit to their marriage covenants and to be a parent to their children that loves them in the love of God. We pray for protection over their family systems, as the enemy would like nothing more than to keep them distracted by attacking their family.
Speaker 1:God, I'm asking for you to raise up government officials that will crucify their personal and political ambitions because they know the only one and true agenda is you, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that they would exemplify the character of Jesus, who did not come in power to lord it over us, but came as a servant, washing the feet of his disciples, making himself less than the angels, so that he might bring the salvation that we so desperately needed. We pray that you would raise up men and women in our government systems that exemplify your character in honor and integrity, in righteousness, in trustworthiness. Give them the ability to flee from the lust of the flesh and the intoxication of power for the sake of power, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life that comes so often with these types of offices. Holy Spirit, come. We so desperately need you. Rend the heavens and come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause all nations to quake before you.
Speaker 1:Father, start with us. Holy Spirit, come down to me and cleanse my heart. Search my heart and cleanse me for all unrighteousness. Start with your church. Awaken your church. Awaken our hearts to call out to you in humility and seek your face. Only you can heal your land. Only you can bring your kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. Empower your church to move in unity like never before.
Speaker 1:Through the love provided through your spirit, I'm asking for you to waken the slumbering spirits in our nation. God, we so desperately need to be so in tune with you right now that we don't take a breath, we don't take a step without being led by your spirit. So, father, son and Holy Spirit, come, align the spirits, souls and bodies of all of us. Align the spirits, souls and bodies of those in authority over us to be in full alignment with you. Father, son and Holy Spirit, and God, I thank you. You are doing far more than we can imagine. You are up to a much bigger story than we could ever write, and so we're going to trust you, god of history past, god of present, I am, and God who is to come, god of the future, that you are doing far more than we will ever know. And I thank you for the many people you already have in places that are significant to your story, that are doing things that no one will ever know about, but you have them on special assignment, and so we pray that you would encourage them, that you would empower them, that you would tune their ears to hear you and quicken their hearts to follow your obedience whenever you say go and do and say we pray your protection, your Psalm 91, protection over them as they are about your kingdom business.
Speaker 1:On behalf of our nation, I'm asking for you to bring the fullness of who you are present in front. God, there is so much noise right now. You cannot escape it. There is so much noise in the world with so many opinions and so many people that are too busy accusing someone else rather than listening to each other. And, father, I am asking for you to bring about supernatural unity in the body of Christ that we might show forth the love of God to a nation that desperately needs it.
Speaker 1:Father, I pray for those who are in political authority over us that they would govern righteously according to your will and political authority over us that they would govern righteously according to your will. We ask for you to call forth just men and women to rule in the fear of the Lord. God, it's so easy to bend to the opinions of others. I'm asking for you to give us men and women who will be strong enough to stand. But mainly, father, I am asking for you to glorify yourself this hour.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of fear and anxiety in our culture right now because no one knows what's going to happen. Even after next Tuesday of the election, we still don't know what's going to happen, and so I'm asking, father, that you would help us all to rest in your sovereignty. Father, I'm praying for all of those in authority over us and then all of us who individually, get to choose whether we submit to that authority or not. You command us to submit to the authority that you put over us. I'm praying that we will serve you as we submit to others, that those in leadership will serve your ultimate purpose and bow their knee to your plan ultimate purpose and bow their knee to your plan, and that we, as followers and subjects in this nation, would serve your purpose.
Speaker 1:Glorify yourself this hour, however, you choose to do it, and we lay our leaders on open palms before you and we say hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Say hallowed be your name, your kingdom, come. Your will be done on earth as in heaven. And, father, we choose to trust you that you are writing a story that we may never fully understand, and the God that you are today is the same God you're going to be next Wednesday morning, regardless of what happens in an election. You are still the righteous judge. You are still the name above all names. You are still our way maker. Our hope is not in an elected official. Our hope is in you. Glorify yourself this hour. We pray all this in your name, amen. I want to thank you for listening to the Father's Business Podcast.
