We have been on a journey for the last several blogs talking about the great necessity in our day for a people to really give themselves to fasting and prayer. Fasting and prayer have always been one of the beautiful tools in my own life that has helped me to sift through all of the thoughts that seem to be roaming about within my heart and mind. Really giving myself to the Lord in fasting and praying, over time, has helped me to be able to identify what are my own thoughts and what are actually God’s thoughts that He is speaking within me. It is critically important that we know the difference.
In America, we are full swing into an election cycle and in just a matter of a handful of weeks, we as a nation will elect another President of the United States. The time is dwindling down and soon people will begin heading out to vote. Some are going to vote via mail-in ballots. Whatever is going to be the chosen method for voting is not really the point here, but rather that Americans are choosing for themselves what they believe the best way forward is for our country, and they have the privilege to do that by casting their vote for who they will endorse to lead our country.
The tensions are high. Political conversations are not necessarily something that brings people together. Rather, politics has a unique way of dividing us. People choose sides. Walls go up. It is typically an us vs. them type posture that people take in this conversation. And, the end result usually leaves a bunch of casualties lying on the battleground of debate and argument. Politics can be a very ugly ordeal.
My angle in this conversation is not whether you consider yourself to be right-wing or left-wing. Honestly, both wings belong to the same bird and the whole bird is sick. So, I am not interested in whether you vote Democrat or Republican. Because in the end, we shouldn’t be simply voting according to party affiliation. Our vote should not just be casually aligned with whichever party it is that we may have grown up with. Our vote should not just be tossed in the direction of whichever party has always run through my family. Your vote does not belong to a specific party just because your “demographic” of people have always voted a certain way. Let me explain…
At the end of the day, as believers in Jesus, and ambassadors of His kingdom, we are not voting according to political parties, we are voting according to policies. We are not voting according to personalities; we are voting according to policies. We are not voting in favor of the person, or just simply to be against the person that is running; we are voting according to policies. The policies are what matter most. The policies that are implemented are what is going to form the experience that we all have as we move forward together in this nation.
I encourage you, as a believer, to fast and pray, layout the policies that are being considered in this upcoming election for President of the United States, and ask the Lord to speak to you about which one He would have you vote for.
We need to vote biblically. Psalm 45:7 says this, “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your fellows.”
Let me ask you a question…do you love what God loves and hate what God hates?
When we love what He loves and hate what He hates, He anoints us with joy.
Has your life during all of this political cycle been filled with joy?
I would ask you to heavily consider taking time to fast and pray, getting out your Bible, laying out the policies of each candidate, and asking the Lord to speak to you.
Fasting and prayer help to determine what I am thinking against what God is thinking. This is key. At times, we seem to think that God always has to agree with us because of how passionate we may be about something. Let me help here, passion is not the same as truth. There are some things that are true, according to God’s word, that you may not be that excited about, but it doesn’t change whether or not it is true. Truth is truth, even if it doesn’t have your approval.
We have to stop forming God in our image and understand that the more time we spend with Him, and the closer we draw to Him, the more He makes us into His image.
Friends, I encourage you to vote. It is one of the great privileges we have as Americans. BUT I encourage you to vote biblically. May the Lord speak to your heart as you give yourself to Him in fasting and prayer.
