Practice

I just heard one of the best messages I have heard in a long time. An excellent speaker named Kris Vallotton brought a message in regards to the recent elections. He was asked some questions about if he thought God’s will had been done, and if he thought judgment was coming. He talked about the difference between sowing and reaping and judgment. He showed how God has already judged sin on the cross of Jesus. We don’t want punishment; we want mercy. If God proceeds to punish others then He will have to punish us also. He proceeded to show how we as Christians will have no influence in the world by trashing our leaders and speaking negatively. We will only gain influence by speaking positively into their lives and lifting them up in our prayers. He spoke of the Scriptures Peter and Paul wrote about praying for and respecting the leaders in authority and Kris reminded everyone that it was Nero that Peter and Paul were writing about. He went on to talk about how Abraham Lincoln had an encounter with God before he took the office of President, and how when he took the office he had a relationship with God. One encounter with God can change a person. Then the thought hit me. I was grateful to see people praying and fasting for this election. Many of us are disappointed and feel we have failed. Not so. God was giving us practice so we could pray and fast for our newly elected president. One encounter with God is all it will take. We must quit speaking negatively. We must quit wishing for something bad to happen to show we “were right.” Being right should NEVER take precedent over loving others. I feel that it is time right now, even before President Obama has made a single executive decision, to begin to pray that he will have an encounter with a loving Father, a grace-giving Son, and a powerful Holy Spirit. Why don’t we start praying and fasting for that? Why don’t we start praying and fasting for God to show us how to be an influence in our nation where love changes everything for the better? Why don’t we start praying for Daniel’s and Esther’s to arise, people who love God with all their hearts yet know how to influence kings and find favor with their rulers? Why don’t we do this? Why don’t we let President Obama know that he has our prayerful support and our respect and our encouragement? Don’t’ you think he would respect the opinions of people like that over those that degrade and berate him? I think it is time to live what we know to be right.