Though I am not a Republican, I was asked to deliver the invocation at the annual Lincoln Day dinner. This is what I said.
As we turn to God in prayer, as we call upon Him in this invocation, we should be doing so in the full and complete confidence of three things. First, we should recognize that politics can be no savior. The fundamental problems that we confront as a nation have no political answers. Second, while politics is no savior, it is manifestly obvious that politics does need to be saved. Politics desperately needs a savior. And third, since it is clear that we must be saved from ourselves then that salvation must come from outside ourselves. And so it is that we turn to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. Please pray with me.
Our gracious God and Father, we pray to You now in the name of Jesus, and amen.
We begin by praying for our president, Barack Obama, for all our congressmen and senators, and for the nine members of the Supreme Court. We pray for all our officials of every political faction and party. We pray that each one of them would cease from man, and would turn to You in true and living trust (Ps. 21:7). We pray as Your Word reminds us to pray when it says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:1–3, ESV).
We also take care to pray for our state and local officials. We ask that You, the only true God, would enable all of them to carry out their duties with humility toward You and toward others (1 Pet. 5:5). Protect them all from harm, along with their families (Ezra 6:10). Deliver each of them from every opinion that is contrary to Your Word (Ps. 119:105). Pour out Your Spirit on their leadership (Prov. 1:23).
As we lift these officials up, we thank You for the measure of peace and security that we still enjoy in this nation, and we pray that we would not sin it away. But if we are asking for this blessing in line with Your holy Word, then we must confess to You that we have turned certain practices into political issues that used to be moral issues, and which ought to be again. We therefore confess to You as great wickedness our callused disregard for the rights of the unborn, and we confess to You our abandonment of marriages for mirages.
Father, Your Word tells us that “the king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1, NASB). We pray that You would in fact do this, and do it in such a way that our republic is restored.
We dare to ask for all of this because we approach You in the name of Jesus Christ, who bled, died, and rose for the only salvation possible in this world. And so it is that we pray to You in Christ our Lord, and amen.