Casandra Martin

By the time you read this, we will know. Yesterday was Election Day. We took our turns walking into the voting booth and exercising our right to choose our leaders. At the time I am writing this, we still don’t know the name of the man who will serve as our president for the next four years. Yet, even now, we can invest in his future. As the news changes today from election coverage to anticipating what the next four years will bring, we can take our new president before the throne of God and begin the greatest work we can do for him – pray.

Here are ten things for which our president needs you to be praying.

1. Pray for his eyes – that they may be open to the will and purpose of God.

2. Pray for his heart – that he will be a man who openly exercises integrity and lives with honor.

3. Pray for his hands – that the work he does for our nation will bring God glory.

4. Pray for his mind – that he will be a man of wisdom, discernment, and Christ-infused focus.

5. Pray for his knees – that he will soak every decision in prayer.

6. Pray for his mouth – that the words he speaks will be words of truth, courage, righteousness, and love.

7. Pray for his soul – that he will be a man who is lives surrendered to the cross of Christ.

8. Pray for his ears – that he will listen for the voice of God and hear His wisdom.

9. Pray for his shoulders – that he will be able to carry the heavy burden of leadership with resolve, dignity, and strength.

10. Pray for his feet – that he will walk in the way of the Lord and follow in the steps of Jesus.

My Jesus Resolution today is to pray. I am going to commit myself to regularly, persistently, lovingly, hopefully, fervently praying for our president. I can’t stand in the Oval Office, but the One we serve is already there willing to work, move, bless, and guide our nation. I am also going to look in the mirror and pray for my own heart. A blessed nation starts with citizens determined to live out the character of Christ in the hometowns, neighborhoods, workplaces, and streets of this great land. The direction of tomorrow begins with where I am willing to walk and kneel today.

It is election season in our country. Tomorrow, we have the privilege and responsibility of choosing the leaders of our land, shaping the laws that will guide our national interests, and investing ourselves in democracy. It is a right that the world looks at in wonder, and many Americans take for granted. I pray that you will use the opportunity granted to you by the blessing of living in this land to go out and vote.

After months (and months and months) of campaign speeches, debates, news reports, and expert opinions, you get to go into the privacy of the voting booth and make your choice. Selecting the people who will be our leaders is a powerful responsibility. I pray that you have invested yourself in prayer, made room for reflection, and listened carefully as you have made your decision. We will live under the authority of these governing powers for the next four years.

As you ponder the significance of this freedom, ask yourself a couple of questions. Have you invested as much thought in who sits on the throne of your heart as you have in who will sit in the White House? Have you listened as carefully to His promises, considered His track record, and looked as deeply into His character as you have the candidate of your choice? After you finish voting, find another quiet, private place and make another choice. Choose to walk closely with God today. Choose to surrender fully to His will. Choose to celebrate the love He extends. Choose to look like Jesus. Choose God. It’s a choice for life.

My Jesus Resolution today is to vote. I am going to make a deliberate choice for God. I am going to invest myself as deeply in Him as I have the elections that are shaping the world in which I live. God is in control, regardless of who sits in leadership in the state capitol or the White House. Today I choose God. I choose to walk with Him, follow His leadership, respond to His voice, and imitate His Son.

“Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” – Charles Spurgeon

Water sports were a given growing up in a land of 10,000 lakes. During the summer months, all kinds of people could be found enjoying the open waters, warm weather, and blue skies. Canoeing was one of my favorites. My initiation into canoeing came at camp. It takes a little bit of coordination and practice to learn how to maneuver through the water with a small boat and a pair of oars, but the benefits of being able to travel across the lake or down the river made it worth the effort.

Picture the middle of the lake on a beautiful day. Out in the center is a canoe with two teenagers, laughing and playing in the boat. Suddenly, one of the teenagers tries to stand up. Big mistake in a canoe. The next thing you see is a splash, a flipped canoe, and two wet heads trying to right the overturned boat. They finally manage to crawl back in the boat (after four tries), and look for the shore. A breeze sends a chill through their wet clothes, helping them make up their minds that it is time to head back in. It is only in the moment when they determine it is time to go that they see the problem. The oars are not in the boat. They are floating away on the gentle ripples of the water. They are stuck out in the middle of the lake, helpless against the tides.

Oars are essential equipment. They allow movement. They propel us forward, help us steer, and keep us going in the right direction. Oars can allow us to swing around obstacles, hold us steady when the current gets rough, and provide stability when the water is choppy. If we want to go, we need to hang onto the oars and use them on our journey.

My Jesus Resolution today is to paddle. I want prayer and praise to be oars that I hang onto with both hands. I want to dip them deeply into the waters of His grace and let them move me closer to His heart. Paddling with just one oar often means rowing in circles. I need both oars, so God can propel me deeper into His presence and His plan for my heart.