Today we are launching our newest Vote Common Good campaign, “Pray for the President.”
As people of faith, we are committed to praying for our elected officials and, when they do not live up to the calling of the common good, praying for their position to be handed to someone who does.
Our prayers are as sincere as our dedication to the common good – we pray not as a sly political act, but as a profuse outcry for the heart of the common good. Yes, we believe President Trump to be a direct threat to that common good, but we will still stand and sincerely pray that he changes paths with Faith, Hope, and Love, and until he does, we will sincerely pray that he steps aside.
Will you pray with us today? Below you’ll find 7 prayers for the next 7 days, brought to us by our friend and fellow common-do-gooder, Brian McLaren.
1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Living God, our President has gained so many things … wealth, power, pleasure, fame, even the presidency. But without love, all his gains will be nothing. Because we believe that no one is beyond redemption, we pray that his heart will truly discover that the power of love surpasses the love of power. And we pray these same things for ourselves, and our neighbors. Amen.
2. 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient; love is kind;
Living God, many characteristics apply to our president: bold, impulsive, unrestrained, vengeful. But he is not a man known for patience and kindness. And so we pray for your grace to touch his heart and help him grow in these qualities of love, for his own benefit, for the benefit of his family, and for the benefit of our nation and world. Amen.
3. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
Living God, nearly every tweet and speech from our president include statements of boasting, arrogance, and rudeness. He seems to be driven by irritation and resentment. This must be a stressful and tense way to live, and so we pray for our president, that he will be delivered from these qualities, and find instead the greater joys of making love his highest ambition. Amen.
4. 1 Corinthians 13:6
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
Gracious God, at last count, our president has made over 13,000 false or misleading statements, and he seems unwilling to face or tell important truths that don’t fit in with his agenda. A leader should be devoted to the truth, and so we pray, God, for our president. Please awakens his conscience when he lies or does wrong, and please impress upon him, and all of us, the benefits of seeking and speaking truth. Amen.
5. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
Living God, someday, Donald Trump’s presidency will end. We pray that you will put people in his life who demonstrate true love to him, so that even when his name is no longer in the news each day, he knows he is important to them. And help us all, who are bearing, trying to keep faith and hope, and enduring struggle and suffering, to be sustained by love. Amen.
6. 1 Corinthians 13:11-12
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly,[b] but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Living God, we all know that it is far too easy for people to advance in years without advancing in wisdom. Help our president, and help us all, to grow in self-knowledge and in maturity, knowing that to you, all hearts are open, and from you, no secrets are hid. Amen.
7. 1 Corinthians 13:13
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
O God our Creator, we do not know the wounds and fears that have played a role in the formation of our president’s character. But we know that love is the greatest healer, and we pray that even as we oppose his policies and resist his negative example, that our love will grow and play a healing role in his life. Help us resist without hatred and oppose without vitriol. Help us, our president, and our nation, be healed and guided by love, more and more. Amen.