About the Author

Jen encourages women to embrace both the beauty and bedlam of their everyday lives at BeautyandBedlam.com. A popular speaker, worship leader, and author of Just Open the Door: How One Invitation Can Change a Generation, Jen lives in North Carolina with her husband, five children, and a sofa for anyone...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Jen,
    This is a great call to prayer for all of us. Like you said, all God wants us to do is ask. He is always waiting, we just need to come to Him in prayer. Lord, I ask you to be with our country. Heal our hearts and heal our land. I praise you that I can take heart because Christ has overcome this world. He has the last word. I know how this story ends – with victory. Help me to live my life as a lamp on a lamp stand. Where there is darkness, let me speak the Word of Truth. Help me to do my part that others might turn from their evil ways and see You, Lord, as the way, the truth, and the life. Let our leaders turn to you for wisdom and guidance. Let us examine ourselves and if there is anything within us that is not pleasing to you, God, let us turn from it. Lord, heal our land. I thank you that my ultimate trust is not in a human leader, but is in You alone. You are sovereign and in that I take have my hope. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
    Blessings,
    Bev

    • Thank you, Bev, for this beautiful prayer-I am grateful for it speaking to and with my heart, for God’s work through you 🙂

  2. Thanks for this gentle rebuke — I’m not a “hard news” kind of girl, and am often too lazy in the head to sort out the nature of conflict in the Middle East, all the factions and sub-factions with names that have too many vowels and unlikely combinations of consonants. But then, there’s John 3:16, so I”m trying to be stronger in this so that I can pray with knowledge and insight. Again, thank you!

    • You are so welcome. It truly can get overwhelming to being to understand everything and leaning into these scriptures makes such a difference.

      Blessings!!

  3. This is an excellent clear and concise guide for prayer in these next months. THANKS. I plan to use it!

  4. Love these thoughts Jen! One of the lessons learned in seminary that has most affected my thinking is that over the course of human history kingdoms have risen and fallen, but God is sovereign over it all and His plans and purposes always prevail. Americans are quite arrogant in our beliefs about our nation and its place in history and the world. Learning about the rise fall of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome and so many others has helped me move my focus from national politics to heavenly purposes. It has helped me to shake off fear and dismay at what is going on in our world and turn my face to God, asking in prayer for God to break my heart for what breaks His, and let go of the other worries that crowd my mind. Thanks for this good reminder.

    • SO SO good, Briane. I read your comment out loud during our family devotions as we discussed this very issue. Such a key reminder.

    • Briane,
      You are spot on with your comment! So many kingdoms have come and gone–but God is still on the throne. In the end WE WIN!!
      Blessings 🙂

  5. Thank you for the much-needed reminder and refresher! I’m one of those who has threatened (even if jokingly) to move … God obviously has a better plan and has used your article to remind me that my “platform” needs to be more like an altar.

    • I think somewhere in the back of our minds, we’ve all jokingly made a similar comment (and even thought out the specific countries ;)), but praying through this all has really changed my perspective.

  6. Jennifer, I praise the Lord for this great posting. I am grateful for this guide to use during this difficult political time. This topic can be so charged and keeping our focus on Christ can help to speak truth and love, wholesome words. Thank you for helping me to see differently. May each of us be a light of Christ in the world through prayer for our country and each other 🙂

    • You’re so welcome, An.
      Since I really follow politics, I’ve had to keep coming back to my own reminder to pray because like you mentioned, it can be SO charged and finding that balance of truth and grace is always at the forefront of my mind.

  7. This is so timely! Thank you!!! I struggle with worry due to all the nonsense unfolding around us, and I am definitely heartbroken to see the way things are going in the U.S. today. I can’t echo enough how important it is to pray — none of it is too “far gone” for God, and not one person involved in the election process, the candidates, their financial backers, right on down the line, is exempt from needing Jesus. I want to cling to faith that the Lord will bring amazing things out of this dark time. Thank you for this great post!

  8. Thank you for this wonderful list and reminder that God is sovereign over all! May the Lord strengthen us His people to love well and live selflessly, no matter what!

  9. I think this is a good time to start praying for our leaders, but mostly for God to make His choice and bless that person.

  10. I think this is great. The headlines are also a reminder of God’s sovereignty and our frailty. We so often can fool ourselves into thinking that we are in control, but looking at the headlines, we can see that anyone can be caught in a tragedy at any time. Our lives are ultimately in God’s hands.

    • oh Joanna – you hit the nail on the head. It’s such a struggle to relinquish that assumed control. It’s all in His timing!

  11. Jennifer,

    Our pastor’s wife started a prayer group with specific topics to pray about. This all came about after watching War Room-a powerful movie on prayer. One of the topics she included was our nation. We need to be in prayer for the leaders-whether we like them or not-to make right Godly decisions. We also pray for our local government. One of my prayers has been “come back God-this world and our country has lost it’s Christian Heritage”. Sometimes I pray for a revival in this country. II Chronicles 7:14 says “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The times are getting bad in this and we must pray-long, hard and fervently!
    Blessings 🙂

  12. Trish,
    I totally agree with you! I don’t have a good choice for president either. I will pray long and hard about this. God will raise up a good Christian leader for us soon!

    Blessings 🙂