The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
(Psalm 29:3-4 ESV)
In my state, today is a day to finalize the voting in the primaries for certain local and state-wide political races. Although the eventual winner for each position won’t be determined until November, today’s voting is a “winnowing down” of sorts as some candidates will not advance to the next round of voting. I was thinking we need to pray for this process, and God reminded me of the story of Gideon and how God selected the warriors Gideon needed. That forms the framework for today’s prayer.
God of Angel Armies,
Your Voice is powerful, full of majesty, thundering over times and places. We give you glory and praise for all you are and what you do. We thank you for the freedom to vote for those in political offices. Thank you for the Constitutions and other laws that govern this process, and the many people through the years who have fought so that each citizen could contribute to voting. Thank you for the godly men and women who serve in elected offices at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels. Thank you for the ways in which you provide for them as they sacrifice money, energy, and personal and family time in order to serve their communities. Today we pray that as the citizens vote, you would guide that undertaking so that only men and women chosen by you continue to the final races. We thank you for the many men and women who, like the initial recruits in Gideon’s army who showed up to fight, showed up to serve. We thank you and pray your blessings upon them. But we ask that, like Gideon’s army, you select only those you want in those offices. Eliminate those whose skillsets, hearts, minds, and temperaments are not suited for these positions. Guide the voting so that those who continue on after the primary have all that is needed to honor their roles and serve well. We pray you would stir up each person in your Church to cast votes according to your will. We pray against any corruption in the voting or counting processes. We pray against any ideology that selects a candidate based on race, sex, or anything other than competency and calling. We pray against any anger, hatred, bitterness, confusion, strife, or violence that may try to intervene in today’s proceedings. We release spirits of peace, clarity, and hope into the atmosphere. Holy Spirit, move in your people, your Church, and this nation for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, AMEN.
Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. (Judges 6:33-35, 7:1-8 NIV)
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18 ESV)
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:1-6 ESV)