A year ago over twenty national figures officially declared their candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.  At that time Donald Trump would have been my next-to-last choice.  I wrote in my blog then that the fact that a significant number of people endorsed him was an indication of how starved we are for strong leadership.  I then predicted Donald Trump would never become our Commander-in-Chief.

If I were an Old Testament prophet, I would be executed for making a false prediction.  This past Tuesday Donald Trump was elected as the 45^th President of the United States.  Almost the entire nation was stunned.  We are going to be led by a wealthy, unsavory businessman with no political experience, who received less than half the popular vote.

The past few days thousands have been marching in the streets of American cities to angrily protest, “He’s not my president.”  Others are posting profane things about Mr. Trump on social media.  Some are even advocating violent and revolutionary solutions.

The new president will be called on to lead a nation that certainly is not solidly behind him.  A good percentage of those who voted for Donald Trump did so reluctantly because they disliked the alternative even more.  Many political leaders and members of the media despise him and are determined to make life miserable for him.  What a tough assignment!

But since Donald Trump is going to be our next president, and since God’s Word says we are to pray for kings and those in authority, it behooves us to begin today to earnestly petition Almighty God on his behalf.  That’s especially true for evangelical Christians since, according to exit polls, more than 80% of white, evangelical Christians voted for Mr. Trump.

So let’s pray.

“Our Father in Heaven, You are the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and the ultimate ruler over Presidents.  Your word says, ’In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that He channels toward all who please him.’ (Prov. 21:1).  We earnestly ask today that you use your awesome power to direct the life and leadership of President-elect Donald Trump.

Father, we ask You to somehow bring him to yourself and use this election to humble him and dramatically transform him.   Lord, You took Saul of Tarsus, an arrogant, antagonist to the gospel and you humbled him on the road to Damascus.  You transformed Saul into the Apostle Paul, a compassionate, unselfish, tenderhearted, brilliant leader of the church. 

We pray You will do something similar in the life of Donald Trump.  We’re encouraged that his inner circle includes several devout followers of Jesus Christ.  Father, use those men to soften his heart to the truth of the gospel.  Bring him to an end of himself so that he will genuinely repent of his sins, confess Jesus as Lord and be baptized into Him to become a new creature in Christ.  A born-again Donald Trump, cleansed by the blood of Jesus and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit would be a marvelous testimony to the entire world.  And a teachable, God-seeking president is what our country desperately needs now.

We pray you will protect his life.  There is much hostility and many threats of violence against him.  So we ask, Lord, that you be his shield and his protector against those who would do bodily harm.  Protect us from a national tragedy that would only further divide us.

We pray that you would grant wisdom to our president-elect.  May he have a spirit of discernment so he instinctively, immediately knows right and wrong.  Your word says, ‘Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed”.  succeed”  Help Donald Trump to appoint a wise, experienced cabinet and surround himself with Godly advisors and then be receptive to their counsel.  More importantly, may he gain wisdom from seeking Your guidance and saturating his mind with Your Word.

Lord, help this new president become a man of integrity. May he lead with justice and righteousness.  May he keep his campaign promises about conservative nominees to the Supreme Court, protecting the life of the unborn and guaranteeing religious freedom.  Help him to be a man who does what he says he will do. 

Help him be strong and courageous.  As an ’outsider’ who is not really beholden to special interest groups, this new president will have a unique opportunity to clean up the political system, simplify cumbersome bureaucracy and bring efficiency to government.  We know multitudes will clamor to influence him to do the wrong thing or the politically correct thing.  Help him not to be easily intimidated by threats or to be so much of a people-pleaser that he will not stand his ground when he is right.  And help him to be humble enough to admit when he’s wrong and change direction.

And, Lord, please help our new leader to be a peacemaker.  Your Word says, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.”  We pray he will find some way to unify the nation without compromising truth.  Help him to negotiate with rogue nations and ideologies that would do us harm and lead the way in establishing peace and security in our world.  

We are a nation split down the middle over cultural, economic, racial and political issues.  We know that deep down at the core, these are really spiritual problems and it’s virtually impossible for us to be unified apart from a common consensus of truth.   A nation divided against itself cannot stand, so Lord, would you work a miracle and somehow make us one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all?

We all pray Donald Trump will grow into his assignment in time. Being the leader of this diverse country is such a difficult assignment.  He’s seventy years old but help him to quickly mature, to be an effective president for all people: the rich, the poor, people of all colors, the old, the young, the believer and unbeliever alike.  Help him to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly before his God.

And help us, O Lord, to be supportive as best we can.  Help us not to look for something to criticize or pounce on the opportunity to say,  ‘See, I told you it would be disastrous!”  Help us to give the new president the benefit of the doubt and seek the common good.  

Father, most importantly, help us not to put our trust in leaders or in nations.  Remind us our ultimate hope inYou.  For we know that, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever’ (1 Peter 1:24-25).

In the name of the one and only true God and His Son Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen.”