What’s a wise thing to pray for before an American election that has so much impact on our everyday lives? Should we pray for justice, safety or wisdom for voters? For rest and peace across the globe?
There are many types of appeals that we can make to God, especially at a time like this, and Faith & Leadership has compiled some resources and asked trusted faith leaders to help guide us in this moment. Below are some prayers from friends of Faith & Leadership and some collected prayers from various denominations and confessions.
Prayers from friends of Faith & Leadership
God, our Creator and Sustainer,
All the nations are like grass that withers and fades.
Sovereigns and magistrates rise and fall;
You make nations great and bring them low.But you, Holy One — your Word remains forever.
Teach us your way,
That we may trust in your love and redemption
As we become a people of peace.
Melissa Florer-Bixler
Author and pastor, Raleigh Mennonite Church
Sovereign God,
In a world filled with divisiveness and confusion, please help us to find clarity in you. Empower us to make decisions that honor your vision for us, not just as individuals, but as communities seeking to live as Jesus did. May our daily work and witness honor your will for humanity, and may your sustaining power strengthen us as we seek to do justice. Amen.
Jessica Young Brown
Professor, author and clinical psychologist
Creator, in this season …
… may we be centered by the promise of your presence,
… may we participate in the healing power of connection across difference,
… may new facets of your love surprise us in moments of dissonance,
… and may we hold your unfailing posture of peace with steadiness and compassion.
Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee
Director of storytelling, H.E. Butt Foundation
Some trust in governments, and some trust in borders, but we trust in you, O God. Send your Holy Spirit to reform our lives and communities according to your hospitality. Our sins have made us enemies of your reign, yet you call us friends. Transform us with your grace, that we may learn to love our neighbors as much as you do. Revive our desire for the world you want for us to have: where the poor receive good news, where prisoners are released, where the oppressed are liberated, and where people who are foreigners and strangers to each other welcome one another as friends. Heal our enmities with your gift of peace, and save us from the violences we have unleashed at home and abroad.
Isaac Villegas
Ordained minister and author
A Prayer for the Anxious Before an Election
God of every generation, draw near, for I am fearful.
I trust in You but worry that frail systems will not hold.
You promise to be with your people in trouble,
that no scourge shall come near my tent.Steady my mind.
Steady this nation.
Steady my trust in You.
Laura E. Everett
Executive director, Massachusetts Council of Churches
Collected prayers from multiple traditions
Almighty God, Creator and Maker of heaven and earth, you alone are worthy of all glory, honor, worship, adoration, and praise. Lord, you reign over all nations and rulers for all time and eternity. ... But now, O Lord, sinful, stony hearts of some of your children have polluted the earth physically and soiled it spiritually with the lingering impact of the massacre of Indigenous people, enslavement of African people, and systemic injustice on Latinos, Asians, and poor whites that is a stench in your nostrils. Lord, the America that you have blessed mightily with a democratic form of government now stands on the brink of fascism, dictatorship, and tyranny that will sustain white supremacy, on which the nation was built, indefinitely.
From “40 Day Fast & Prayer Guide for Free, Fair, and Safe Elections and for Our Nation,” by Barbara Williams-Skinner for Turnout Sunday
Electing God, you chose humanity when you created us in your image;
you chose a people for yourself when you called Abraham;
you chose freedom when you led your children with Moses
through the Red Sea.In Jesus you chose us despite the folly and failure of our own choices;
and in his resurrection and ascension you chose us for yourself, forever.And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven,
we praise your name and
celebrate the glory for which you have elected us.
From “Election Day,” by Samuel Wells and Abigail Kocher, in “Eucharistic Prayers” (Eerdmans, 2016) via the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Loving God, creator of this world who is the source of our wisdom and understanding, watch over this nation during this time of election. Help us to see how our faith informs our principles and actions.
Intercessor: God, our creator,
People: Guide us in truth and love.
From “Prayers of the People for an Election,” by Shannon Kelly for The Episcopal Church
Lord God, as the election approaches,
we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our country,
and how the Gospel compels us to respond as faithful citizens in our community.
We ask for eyes that are free from blindness. …
From “Prayer Before an Election,” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
As citizens of your kingdom, allow us to be ambassadors through whom your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. May we not get entrapped by political idolatry, but represent you through our civic engagement.
From Prayers for Election Day, by Raymond Chang for the Asian American Christian Collaborative
God of all people, your ways are higher than any earthly ruler and your righteousness is truer than any worldly judge. Align our hearts with your justice, that in this upcoming election we would commit to making decisions based on the needs of the poor and oppressed in our midst and our stewardship of all that you have made.
From Worship Resources for a National Election, by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
O God, we are anxious as we stand at the edge of so much opportunity, so much danger.
God, calm our fears. protect us, and all that is true and just and good.
God have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Spirit have mercy.
From “A Blessing for Election Day,” by Kate Bowler
