2020 Election Prayer

Next week, voters will select a president of the United States of America for the 59th time. This is our privilege and responsibility as citizens.

We may or may not know the outcome by Tuesday evening.

We can assume that regardless of who wins, there will be angst, unrest, contesting, and demonstrations.

All our Assemblies of God churches and ministers should know that, whatever the outcome of the election, the mission of our church remains:

1. Evangelism
2. Worship
3. Discipleship
4. Compassion

When our president takes office, he and this country need a healthy Church. A divided nation is discouraging, but a divided Church is devastating.

So, I am calling on Assemblies of God churches and ministers to engage in intercession for our country.

You see . . .

The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing; 2 Thessalonians 5:17 exhorts us to never stop praying and to be thankful in all circumstances. This is a powerful invitation — to continually be praying with an attitude of thanksgiving — despite circumstances. It is about trusting and believing that God is sovereign. God is in control!

He's in control of the universe, of our nation, of our families, of our very lives — and of election outcomes.

He’s the One in charge, regardless of who holds the governing seat in any nation. Our Lord taught us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth (in our country) as it is in heaven. Though His will is not always done on earth, He is still ultimately in control —regardless of election outcomes.

Some people place their trust in their abilities, knowledge, or possessions. Remember that our Lord is ultimately in control; thus, we put our trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7)

I am asking you to join me in prayer, fervent prayer, even before we know what the outcome of the election may be. I want us to pray in these specific ways:

1. Pray for Peace. The Word promises that God grants strength to us and blesses us with peace (Psalm 29:11). This is not a temporary peace, but a peace that only comes from Him. I do pray we experience God’s peace, which surpasses and exceeds anything we can understand, and that He will guard our hearts and minds with His perfect peace, despite the very real tensions and treacherous storms that life might bring (Philippians 4:7). We place our lives and families in His hands, for it is only in Him that we can find true peace. God help us to make every effort to live peacefully with everyone (Romans 12:18).

2. Pray for Safety. I’m grateful that we can trust that God is a refuge and a strong tower (Proverbs 18:10). He will spread His protection over us and cover us with His favor as with a shield (Psalm 5:12). He will keep us under His wings, and we will be safe from the unseen danger, calamity, and the hurricane-force winds that come against our families, health, finances, and spiritual well-being.

3. Pray for Unity. I pray that God will help us see people as He sees people. Again, the Word teaches us that we are to love the Lord, and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37). May God forgive us when we have not loved one another as He has commanded us and have not treated others with kindness and mercy. Ask the Lord to help you love and see others through His eyes.

4. Pray for Justice. The Lord is the righteous Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). We know that He sustains the fatherless and the widow and watches over the foreigner (Psalm 146:9).

Please lift our troubled nation to the Lord in prayer. Let’s pray for all people in our country to be treated fairly in all avenues of life. We place our judicial system before the Lord in prayer, our Supreme Court justices, each judge, and all those who serve our communities. We ask the Lord to help us obey His Word, which reminds us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly (Micah 6:8).

5. Pray for Spiritual Revival. Will all of you lean in and ask the Lord to restore and revive us again so that we His people may rejoice in His presence (Psalm 85/Hosea 6:2)? As a nation, send us a revival. The Word says that He will revive the spirit of the contrite and humble (Isaiah 57:15). We do believe that He can and will bring a spiritual awakening to our church (Habakkuk 3:2) and display His glory in our midst once again.

The Lord has chosen us to be His own. We are called to be the Church in this time period here on earth. And I pray, according to Colossians 3:12, that we would “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

In addition, I am praying for those who are hurting. Just this week, there are wildfires burning in Colorado, Gulf coastal communities rebuilding from Hurricane Zeta’s impact, and our nation continues to suffer the vast impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, it may seem the most bleak and uncertain election year. But we place our trust in the One who says in Psalm 46:2 that we need not fear even if the mountains crumble into the sea. Oh God, release hope to the hopeless.

Doug Clay

General Superintendent

The General Council of the Assemblies of God

See full bio.