Fifty Days of Prayer for the National Election 2012 – Day 37

Day 37 October 24
Focus: God’s Sovereign Will
O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1 
O Exalted Lord, You reign in perfect righteousness and faithfulness. You have done great and mighty things for our nation; we praise and thank You for Your goodness to us throughout history.  You are moving visibly in America; may we be quick to speak of Your power and might.  Forgive us for times when we ignore You or look the other way.  Make known Your holy Name. Do not let Your holy Name be profaned. Let the nations know that You, the LORD, are the Holy One in Israel.  (Ezekiel 39: 7)
 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.  (Psalm 115: 1-3) 
Issues of religious faith have taken center stage in this election season.  Lord, may this continue and grow. May discussions of belief in Christ our Savior remain vital in these campaigns.  May we long for godly candidates who speak of You and acknowledge their willingness to bring their lives, administrations and decisions before You in humility and submission. 
 The LORD does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.  Psalm 135:6
We declare that Your redemptive purpose for America was to glorify and honor the Lord and establish a Christian nation to be a light to the world. 
In 1492, Columbus said, “It was the Lord who put into my mind…..” From the opening line of his log, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ….”, he recorded his desire to “bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the heathens…. and bring the Word of God to unknown coastlands.”
On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed with a band of settlers to found St. Augustine, Florida, America’s first settlement. The Spanish settlers named this landing site Nombre de Dios. Here, the cross of Christianity was first planted in America. 
In 1607, Jamestown was settled under the First Charter of Virginia which declared, ” . . . by the Province of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating the Christian Religion . . . “.  The first act performed by the settlers after they landed at Cape Henry was to erect a large wooden cross and hold a prayer meeting on publicly chartered land.
 In 1620, from the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford wrote, “Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work.” 
The New England Charter of 1620 read: ”to advance the enlargement of the Christian religion, to the glory of God Almighty.” 
The Carolina’s Charter of 1622 acknowledged that the settlement was constituted for “the propagation of the Christian faith.” 
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut of 1638 read, “….confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess.”
 The Constitution of the New England Confederation of 1643 contains the words, “Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the Liberties of the gospel in purity with peace.” 
The New Haven Colony Charter of 1644 officially ordered that the “judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses be a rule to all the courts in this jurisdiction ….” 
 The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 allowed Catholics freedom of worship. “Forasmuch as in a well governed and Christian Common Wealth matters concerning Religion and the honor of God ought in the first place to bee taken, into serious consideracion and endeavoured to bee settled…” 
From sea to sea, our founding documents refer to the sovereignty of Almighty God. 
Most Merciful God, do not let this be the generation to abandon Your redemptive plan for America. Your will is sovereign and perfect, and You do as You see fit in the affairs of humankind and in all Your creation.  We acknowledge that we do not fully understand Your perfect purposes. We confess that we have lost the vision that was granted to those whose hearts were set on pilgrimage in the early settlement of our nation.  Yet, in Your mercy, we ask You to work through the election process this year to establish our nation once again.  We ask You to lift up those You have ordained to lead our country, our states, our towns and villages and no others.  Give us leaders who seek first Your kingdom. May Your will be done by the citizens of our nation, and may You be honored and pleased by the results. 
We beseech You to keep us from responding like the faithless Israelites who clamored for a king. May we be people who acknowledge You are sovereign in Your power, might, and wisdom. Grant that our officials will know that You alone are God and they are but Your servants.  In Christ Jesus we pray, Amen. 
“It is no slight testimonial, both to the merit and worth of Christianity, that in all ages since its promulgation the great mass of those who have risen to eminence by their profound wisdom and integrity have recognized and reverenced Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God.”  (John Quincy Adams) 
All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No law shall in any case whatever control the free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions, or interfere with the rights of conscience.   (Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2 and 3).