A prayer suggestion for those who pray for the president

As a Christian, prayer is important to me.  Also, as a Christian, I’m aware that a lot of American Christians pray for the country, and the country’s leadership, in various ways, and with various motives (not all of which are necessarily aligned with how Christians have been instructed to pray, by Jesus).

A while back, I became curious if there are any large-scale efforts by Christians to pray for the president.  It was then that I became aware of ThePresidential Prayer Team, which I subsequently joined (out of curiosity, rather than an endorsement of their positions and strategies).

Ever since joining, I’ve been receiving daily emails, which I often fail to keep up with, however I have learned that the organization does provide a briefing on the planned presidential activities of the day (which is interesting to know), and a bulleted list of specific prayers to offer for the day (along with the requisite requests for donations).

Recently, the president has said very troubling things concerning the upcoming 2020 election.  In the July19, 2020 Fox Sunday interview with Mike Wallace, he indicated he might not accept the election results, and that he is not a good loser.  He repeatedly asserts the election will be fraudulent/rigged, offering unsubstantiated election fraud concerns. 

Given what the president has been saying, I decided to check in with The Presidential Prayer Team to see if they were recommending to team members to pray specifically for the president regarding his perspectives on the election, and to stop communicating unfounded assertions about the integrity of voting processes.  What I learned is that they have an initiative called Pray the Vote.  The good news is that their posted prayer is general, and not specific towards any particular candidate winning.  The prayer is simply that the results of the election be according to God’s plan.  This seems like a wise prayer strategy, given how Jesus instructed Christians to pray in the Lord’s prayer, “thy will be done”.  If Christians simply pray for the election results to be according to God’s plan, then whatever the election results are can be received by Christians as God’s plan for America.

Yet, I still have this concern that Mr. Trump, given his confession as being a poor loser, and his indication that he may not accept the election results, could create added strife in the country.  The Presidential Prayer Team did not suggest any prayer specific to President Trump accepting the outcome of the election, if the election results in his loss.

So I have a prayer suggestion for those who are praying for the president.  Will you pray that President Trump will gracefully accept defeat, and concede, if he loses the election?  Will you pray that God convict him to stop sowing seeds of doubt concerning unfounded allegations of election fraud?  I know that can be hard to do, given that many Christians feel very strongly that Mr. Trump is God’s Chosen One, for this time.  There can be the temptation to allow partisan desires to dominate, even to the point of refusing to accept the outcome of the election, if it’s not a win for President Trump.  Sadly, it looks like President Trump is preparing to contend with the election results, if they are not in his favor.  However, it’s not his will, nor my will, nor your will that is important, but God’s will.  Indeed Lord, thy will be done.