A prayer for peace and integrity at the polls

Lord, we take many things for granted in our country, but the fact that we are able to accomplish a peaceful transfer of governmental power every two years is truly a blessing for which we should thank you. We thank you for the judges who were able to put their partisan affiliations aside and rule justly concerning measures that could have compromised the integrity of our voting process in Ohio, Florida, and other places.  We thank you for all that you have accomplished in our nation throughout our history by compelling your people to face down mobs, water hoses, and dogs in order that everyone would have the right to vote. We thank you for the way that you have softened our bigotry so that we could have a presidential election in which we have one Mormon, two Catholics, and the only Protestant is a black guy.It is because of how you have proven your faithfulness in the past that I feel confident in asking you to protect the peace and integrity of our election this year. It seems like people are more agitated and troubled than they have been in the past. It makes me worry about violence and cheating. Lord, if there are any plots to manipulate voting machines or intimidate voters or sabotage the voting process in any other way, expose and confound these plots. If there are people who have violent intentions whether it’s physical violence or emotional violence, then stop them from doing evil. Lord, I also pray that frustration over logistical issues and long waits will not spill over into rioting. Cover the voting lines with a spirit of peace and trust in you. Quickly reveal any trouble that develops to police, election officials, or other appropriate personnel. Do not let anyone with malicious plans of any kind get away with what they are trying to do.

Lord, I also ask that the results would be decisive, whatever they are. Please create an outcome that cannot be questioned and delegitimized by the losing side. Instead, help those who win and those who lose to be circumspect and humble in response to the outcome. Reveal your will to both sides. Compel your people to seek peace and reconciliation with their political opponents. Drive a needle into their hearts so that they cannot rest until they commit themselves to being agents of healing and compromise rather than outrage and self-righteousness. I say especially for those who bear the name of Christian that you banish from them any thought of gloating and punish them if they do. Don’t let anyone who has borne false witness, slandered, or sabotaged be vindicated in their evil. Convict them whether it is through a rotten conscience or a life event that brings their faces to the ground in front of you.

Moreover, Lord, I pray that every politician and every voter would be convicted by your Holy Spirit and filled with a heart of repentance. We have all sinned in the buildup to this election. We have told lies and shared lies that other people told without taking responsibility for confirming their accuracy. We have said “Raca” about our political opponents. We have blasphemed the name of Christ by delighting in scandal and creating an atmosphere polluted by animosity and slander. We need to be forgiven. We need to be healed. Others who have been hurt by us need your healing too. As for those who are too thick-necked to confess any wrong, deal with them severely enough that they would be broken and cry out to you for mercy so that they would experience the sweetness of your grace.

You are still God even when we have vandalized your beauty with our ugliness. Our darkness can never overcome your light. Help us to trust in your providence, even if evildoers triumph and their hubris swells even larger than it was already. Put into our hearts whatever is needed to compel us to seek your will, whether it be wrath or mercy or peace or disquiet. Add to the number of those whom you have awed and inspired into building your kingdom; diminish the ranks of those whose cowardly fear of you has caused them to bury their talents and pervert your truth. You will be victorious no matter who wins the election tomorrow. We long for peace and for a world in which lies will not be tolerated any longer. Make us the agents of your peace and integrity. Through the power of our Savior whose cross gives us truth and whose resurrection gives us hope. Amen.