We are less than a month away from an election that will set the course of our country for the next four years.  The stakes are high.  More than ever, we must step back and “not judge a book by its cover”.  And even more than that, we must PRAY – the kind of prayers that bring us to our knees, the kind of prayers that compel us to fast.  We must pray that the Lord will show us clearly how to navigate these days.

I will be the first one to say we should never allow a man on the throne above our Lord Jesus. His is the name above all other names. And it is to His standard, and His standard alone, that we as the Church need to bow. If we are looking at our choices as the world looks, we could perceive the face of foolishness. But I urge you Church to look at the record of what each of our candidates has done.  Do the research, dig deep, know the facts.  The public faces that we are looking at in each of our candidates makes it fuzzy and gray. So, I think we need to step back and consider two things. One, we need to go back and look at what each of these political platforms represents. And after that, we go and look at the records of these men and woman that are representing those platforms.

Church, I believe we have a mandate to vote on the side of the Lord and holiness. I feel we are walking in error when we decide that the Church and politics are meant to be separate. The moment we want to suggest that our God has no place in the public square, is the moment that we have turned our eyes and focus away from him. There is a present-day “interpretation” of the separation between church and state, but it is in no way the intention of our founding fathers. It wasn’t a separation to invoke silence.  It was set up to ensure that people could worship freely, without concern of government oversight.  In every way they believed that the church should influence the culture and government.  We need only look at the Constitution for evidence of this.

“(A) government that seeks to use secular moral reasoning alone will soon find itself adrift amid the sea of ever-changing public opinion. A transcendent moral law is needed which can ground the human and political rights that we cherish today. This is, ultimately, the reason why we allow our political conscience to be properly informed by our faith.”  -Neil Hardin, “What does “separation of Church and State” actually mean?”

Church, please, I urge you to pray and fast in these days remaining until the elections. There is so much more at stake than a name that will represent the state of this nation and the picture of our presidency. The moment we put a presidency over the sanctity of life (ANY life), we have lost our way. Holiness is our standard as believers. When our vote goes contrary to that – in order to make public-square ideologies separate from our Christian faith, we have gone astray.

“What do you want – a mob, a mindless crowd or an ekklesia?”  -Tomi  Arayomi

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.  Ps 103:19 NIV

Rise up Church!  Lay all your idols down for there is only ONE God, only one LIVING God – Yahweh.  And it’s on His throne that His Kingdom shall be established.  Church – push aside political correctness, seeker-sensitive movements that water-down the Gospel or facilitate lukewarmness…  Your call, your mandate – is one of holiness, a counter-cultural movement that shifts the tide of how this nation is moving.  A movement that causes blind eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, and turns hearts back towards the One who knew each one before the creation of time, calls each one by name, and loves each with such fervor and intimacy that He allowed His only Son to suffer death so that we might live!  THAT Church is our call!

But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.  1 Pt 2:9 TPT

“What we face has more to do with who we are as a Church and less to do about a president.  Ultimately, we are not in a war of political parties, but a war of principles and values.  What we must rightly discern is the mission of the Church and the specific values we hold most dear.  Until we recognize and deal with the growing gap of ideological differences and Kingdom perspectives, we will never come together as the Church toward a common goal.  Until we come together on common ground, our prayers will be limited and our authority diminished.”

-Wanda Alger, Moving from Sword to Scepter

Pray!  Pray like you never have before.  Pray as though your lives depend on it.  Pray for a move of God such as this world has never seen.  Pray for His glory to flood our homes, our Churches and this nation.  Pray for revival!

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  Jas 5:16 KJV

The list of strong Christian leaders coming out of “switching sides” seems to be daily mounting.  This highlights the need, more than ever, to be in PRAYER heading up towards this election!  There is a spiritual battle going on for the soul of this nation, and I argue, even for the soul of the Church.  Continue to pray for the Church, as it is called to be the LIGHT of a city on a hill, not a dim ember burning in a corner.  Our Kingdom principles should infiltrate society!

If you are not confident on who to vote for, if you feel the choices are confusing or pushing you in a direction that is contrary to your values as believers in Jesus Christ, I urge you to fast and pray – and not move (decision-wise) until you hear clearly from the Lord.  The matter is THAT important!

“And give us clean hands
And give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh, God let us be
A generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh, God of Jacob…”
-Chris Tomlin, “Give Us Clean Hands”