We are now less than 50 days out from the next US election, and look, you don’t need me to tell you this… things are tense. If 2020 hadn’t handed us enough already, now we have to vote in an election that, one way or another, stands to alter the course of our nation’s history. Whatever your political convictions are, you know the stakes are high.

For believers, I say with confidence that there’s one thing we should be doing above all else. Before we post an article or meme on Facebook, before we put one sign in our yard, before we discuss or even debate with a single person, before we read one news story… we must pray. I believe to my core that our call to pray has rarely been more urgent than it is now.

It’s as simple as this: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

To pray is the directive, but this single verse is packed with words that also tell us how we should be praying in these days ahead of the election, and I believe it highlights 4 key prayers for this time.

I’ve also asked someone to contribute some additional thoughts on prayer during this time. She’s not only my older sister, Stefanie Schindler, she’s also an intercessor who has spent the past 5 years deeply involved with prayer ministries and praying very specifically over our nation. She has invaluable insight on how we can seek God’s heart on behalf of our country.

1. PRAY FOR HUMILITY

“... if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves…” It’s right there in plain language, and couldn’t be any clearer. What does God say we should do before prayer is even mentioned? Seek humility. And if I’m being really honest, of all the things we should be praying for right now, I suspect this will be among the most difficult. Humility doesn’t come easily, probably now more than ever. We’re armed with information, we’ve got memes and we’re not afraid to use them, we’ve got a hair trigger on social media, and as our nation has become more and more divided, we’ve retreated ever further into our corners, steadfast in our belief in the inherent rightness of our positions and beliefs.

So friends, I say this with love, you are not always right. I’m certainly not. Our views and perspectives are so painfully limited, and I believe there is so much God wants to do in and for our nation, but as He clearly states, we must first humble ourselves. Pray for God to show you what humility means in this time, pray that He will show you where pride is clouding your vision, and do this before you ask for anything else.

In 2016 when God led me into deep intercession for our nation, He first required one thing of me. He asked me to lay down all of my opinions. He told me very specifically “you can not understand what is happening in the nation through a political lens.” Like most Americans, I had my opinions on almost everything occurring in the news. If I was to truly pray and understand the heart of God for this land, He demanded of me to humble all of those opinions before Him and receive His heart for all of it. It was not an easy journey and truly one I am still on. However, I can say with certainty that as I offered up my thoughts to Him, my heart dramatically shifted. His heart for this land and the people living in it replaced what I had cultivated through my own pride. Humility truly is the key to overcoming the prideful political spirit that is rapidly trying to overtake our nation. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

2. PRAY FOR DISCERNMENT AND TRUTH

“… and seek my face…” Seeking truth has rarely been more important than it is right now, in this moment. So what a convenient time it is to be living in the era of fake news. We use this phrase both seriously and in jest, but at its core is the idea that we’re living under a continual onslaught of information, and discerning what’s true from what’s not is more challenging than ever.

Pray that God will help us discern the truth, because truth is under attack. Even in popular culture, commonly used phrases like “speak your truth” have introduced a mainstream idea that truth can and should be subjectivized on an individual basis. So take a moment to remember this… truth is an absolute and it comes from God. When we look to him, when we seek His face, there and only there do we find truth. Pray that God will help you discern not only what is factual from what is not, but also that He’ll help you recognize what is based in His truth and what is not.

Daily communion with God through prayer and the reading of His Word is absolutely crucial in this season. There are days when I scroll through too much social media or read too many news articles, and I can feel myself get pulled out of alignment with what God has been speaking to me about what is really occurring in the nation. However, when I choose to tune everything else out and genuinely seek His face, He speaks clearly. It’s in those moments that I can feel the peace flood back into my soul, and adjustment of my heart into an aligned place with Him and His Truth. Friends, we must abide here in this place even if it means releasing all other sources of information. It’s through Him and Him alone we will gain true understanding of what we are seeing unfold before our eyes.

3. PRAY FOR GOD’S JUSTICE

“... I will hear from heaven...” Justice is likely to be a touchy subject for some time. People in our nation have been seeking, calling for, and praying for justice for some time. A lot of us want different kinds of justice, we want to see different people brought to justice, and we want them brought to justice for different reasons. My fear is that, in many cases, our hearts have become more motivated by vengeance than justice. Believe me, I say this to myself as much as anyone else.

Wanting justice is good and right and we should seek and promote justice at every turn. Wanting vengeance is something different entirely. Wanting to see someone go down in court, wanting to see someone imprisoned, even wanting to see one political “side” proven wrong in a big way — this is a desire more often rooted in vengeance than justice.

The Bible tells us vengeance is Gods, and in this time, justice is God’s. I believe strongly that we will see some people brought to legal justice in the coming years, but what we should be praying for during this time is that God will have His justice, not that He will give us our vengeance. Trust me, I have to call myself out on this continually lately. I hope you’ll challenge yourself in the same way. God tells us to act justly but also to love mercy.

The Bible tells us the two foundations of God’s throne are Righteousness and Justice. Why then do we believe we must get justice for ourselves? What lacks when man seeks his own justice is usually wisdom and concern for all parties involved. Man, without submission to the Great Judge of the universe, will only perpetuate the pain of injustice to someone else.

During the Revolutionary War, the founders of our nation found themselves lacking justice from Britain. Britain was far too great and powerful an enemy to overcome in their own strength. So “An Appeal to Heaven” campaign was launched by our praying forefathers who recognized that without intervention from the hand of the Righteous Judge, our land would surely lose its fight for freedom. God responded and provided miracle after miracle during the war to secure our freedom for generations to come. Had our forefathers not been on their faces before God seeking His justice, our nation would likely look very different today.

4. PRAY FOR HEALING

“... and restore their land…” There are few things I pray for right now that hit my heart quite as hard as this one. More than anything I long for in our nation, I long for healing. I long for restoration with God and with each other.

The gap between right and left, red and blue, has become so wide that both sides have abandoned their willingness to seek understanding or recognize commonality, even humanity in each other. The other-ism we feel towards people with different political beliefs is killing us. Healing can’t and won’t come until we begin to reach across that gap, guided by both love and truth.

Beyond the division in our nation, there are people facing injustice and inequality who’s pain, hurting and resentment run deep. We’ve never seen a clearer example of that pain than we have over the past few months. Whatever your thoughts are on how that pain has manifested or been expressed, do not miss that the core of it is deep pain and frustration.

God longs to bring healing to our nation, and we should share that longing and pray for Him to bring healing, restoration, and life-giving freedom to our nation and all of its people.

“America’s best days are ahead of her”. These are the words God spoke to my husband and me in 2014 that shifted our hearts and brought fresh hope for this land. Like many Christians, I had believed the bad report about this nation that God was “done” with her. At the core of this belief was a lie that actually goes against the very God that we worship. I had forgotten that God is a merciful, faithful, covenant-keeping God who never breaks His promises.

What I did not realize at this point, was that God had made a covenant with the early settlers and founders of this nation. So in 2016 when God spoke to me to “remember the covenant”, I began searching out every bit of history I could surrounding this idea. Through a series of what could only be God-ordained connections, I discovered that the Mayflower Compact was a covenant written between the settlers of America and God. In the compact, they covenanted to dedicate this new world to “the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith”.

On November 11, 2020, we will celebrate 400 years since the signing of this compact. A significant number of years if you know Biblical Hebrew history and how long they waited to inherit their Promised Land. This anniversary also happens to be 8 days after our pivotal elections.

I believe God is inviting the believers of this nation to remember that covenant. He has not forgotten, and He is planning a spectacular and merciful restoration of the promises He spoke to our forefathers which will usher in a massive healing of this land.

“Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again acquire with His hand a second time the remnant of His people, who will remain”. Isaiah 11:11

There’s not a lot that feels certain in 2020. We’re walking into the second half of this year battered and bruised, weary and footsore. And now, only two things feel certain:

Many of the days ahead are going to feel dark and difficult.

And if we humble ourselves and pray, He will hear us, and He will usher us into the freedom of healing and hope.