God calls us to pray for our leaders — that they would submit to His leadership for the sake of His will being done and for the advancement of His everlasting kingdom. As followers of Christ, we need to pray for our leaders both in and out of the election season.
The heart behind this prayer guide is to pray for our current and future leadership, using Scripture as the foundation for each prayer. It is designed not only for you to use in your personal quiet time but also to pray with a prayer partner or small group and intercede for our nation together.
Prayer Guide Contents
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
“The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”
Lord, we know that in the midst of this time, You have kingdom purpose. You have brought our country to its knees. Nothing that is happening is a surprise to You. You see the big picture, and You are at work in ways that we cannot see. Please guide the direction of our country.
“In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that He channels toward all who please Him.”
“For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.”
“May all kings bow down to Him and all nations serve Him.”
King of the Earth, we pray for our President. Please give him divine wisdom to lead this country. We pray that he would serve and revere You in his words and actions. We humbly ask that You grant him grace to know how to unify our country.
We are facing immense challenges regarding public health, a pandemic, financial hardship, economic shutdowns, racial tensions, devastation from violence and riots in the streets, and great political division among many other things. Our President faces fierce challenges and opportunities on the domestic and international fronts. Please grant our President divine wisdom to navigate our country through the uncertain path that lies ahead.
“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.”
We lift up the Vice President, cabinet, and advisors to the President. The Bible and history are full of examples of counsel to the king resulting in laws and decisions leading the entire nation toward peace and prosperity or toward division, destruction, and even collapse.
We pray that You would give the President wisdom to surround himself with counselors who have our country’s best interest at heart. Grant them wisdom to advise the President in the course of action he should take. We pray that You would surround our President with sound, wise counsel to direct him as he leads our nation.
“I urge, 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.”
Prince of Peace, we pray for the Senate and Houses of Representatives as they make laws to govern our land and delegate our nation’s resources. Grant them wisdom to allocate our resources wisely. Please raise up people who will make laws to protect our freedoms so that we can live peaceful, quiet lives in godliness and dignity.
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”
As with the general political climate throughout the nation, members of Congress are fiercely divided into tribal political parties unwilling to work together and compromise for the good of the nation. We pray against this divisiveness that plagues our land. We humbly plead that, by your miraculous power, the members of Congress would put their agendas aside to work together in humility to serve for the good of our nation as our nation’s leaders.
“He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, ‘Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’”
Lord Jesus, You are the Righteous Judge who will judge the nations. We lift up our Supreme Court. We pray that they would judge rightly before you and uphold what is true. We pray for balanced judgment that upholds our Constitution. Grant them divine wisdom to decipher what is right.
“I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.’”
“When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.”
We pray for the judges across our land from the local level to the high courts. Help them to judge wisely and fairly. Please give them wisdom and discernment to balance justice and mercy. Raise up righteous judges who fear You and will judge in accordance with the laws of the land. Give them wisdom during these divisive times to do what is right.
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”
Father God, we pray for our governors and our state and local officials. Grant them grace to face their unique challenges regarding secure voting measures, political unrest, COVID restrictions, financial crisis, law enforcement, racial division and so on. Please give them insight into the needs of their communities and discernment to make decisions to lead their states and communities well.
“From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”
Heavenly Father, Creator of the heavens and earth, we are confident that You sovereignly place every leader and that You have marked the days for which You use them for Your purposes. By Your mighty hand we pray that You would be merciful to our nation to work in the hearts of those to whom You give authority. We pray for peace. We pray for unity. But whether in conflict or unity we are confident that You are implementing Your plan and accomplishing Your will.
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
King of Kings, you appoint the nation’s leaders in Congress and at the state and local levels. We pray for our leaders to protect our freedom so that we might live out our faith freely without fear.
We pray for the salvation of all of our nation’s leaders that they may know You. Place people in power who revere You and will serve You for the good of their communities.
“From His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth — He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in You.”
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.”
Lord Jesus, though our hearts are heavy for our nation, may we not lose sight of the fact that our hope is in You. One day, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11). You are our only hope.
Forgive us for placing our hope in the government, political ideologies, comfort, financial security and other circumstances. We repent that, in our prosperity, we have forgotten You and have become self-reliant (Deuteronomy 8:11-14). Our hearts are so quick to wander. We repent of idolatry.
By Υour power, teach us to live with the realization in the forefront of our minds that our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We commit our future as a nation and as Υour people to Your Hands. Your will be done. Amen.
Scriptures taken from the New International Version.
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