A Prayer for America

We offered this as a prayer petition during worship at Living Water yesterday. If you feel so inclined, would you join in offering petitions like this as we move toward Friday?

Almighty God, Lord of all the nations, this week will bring the inauguration of a new president. To him and to those who serve in all three branches of our federal government and to thosewho serve at all levels of government in this country, grant wisdom and the faith and humility to act on that wisdom. We ask that all office-holders will be successful not on their terms or on ours, but on Your terms alone. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

A Prayer for President Obama As He's Inaugurated This Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend

Here is one of the petitions we offered up during the Prayers of Intercession during the 10:15 worship service this morning at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio.

Gracious, mighty King, today in a private ceremony and tomorrow during the traditional public celebration, President Obama will be sworn in to a second term as our president.

These events will come during the Martin Luther King. Jr. holiday, in which we remember the Christian leader who challenged Christians, white and black, and all Americans to stand against public policies which demanded Christians and others to worship false deities like racism and the lie of white racial superiority.

Although bigotry still rears its ugly, sinful head among us in our culture all the time, we pray that, using Christians who follow King’s example, You will crush racism out of existence.

As Americans who love our country, the Constitution, the freedom to worship that we enjoy, and the peaceful transition of power which is part of our national life, we pray your blessings on President Obama.

As he is inaugurated, we pray that Your Spirit would give him your wisdom, that he will be open to your wisdom, that you will protect him and his family from all danger and harm, and that throughout his tenure, as we individual Americans live in daily repentance and renewal, moved by the witness for Christ they hear from individual Christians like us, will come to follow Christ and so have peace with God, now and in eternity. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

I was actually pulling for my buddy, Glen VanderKloot...

But Rick Warren will give the Invocation at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration. VanderKloot, the inspiring, humble, intelligent pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Springfield, Illinois, whose daily emailed inspirations I often share with readers of my blog, gave the invocation at the big rally with Obama and his then-newly announced running mate, Joe Biden, held at the old Illinois State House on the Saturday before the Democratic National Convention. I had hoped that Mr. Obama would ask Pastor VanderKloot to perform the same duties on January 20. But I like Warren, too.