The nation is in political mode. Debates, polls, primaries, and Super Tuesday have captured the papers' headlines and America's attention. The candidates are each vying for one thing-to be Leader of the Free World. Citizens scurry to the polls to voice their opinions through their vote for the candidate that will best represent their concerns. Critical issues such as the value of life and family, the increase or decrease of taxes, and the filling of vacant seats in Congress are among the many issues at stake. After all, history is set on course by those whom the people elect, by those who lay claim to a throne, or by those who dictate the laws of their land. Or so it seems.
While others anxiously await the outcome of November 15th's election, I was recently assured by the reality of this thought: "You (God) control human events - you give rulers their power and take it away, and you are the source of wisdom and knowledge." (Daniel 2:21) The question quickly arises whether my vote matters when God controls the outcome. Should I spend all my time worrying and scurrying to affect change for this election? Or would my country not be best served by taking my voice to the One who will set the man or woman of His choosing in the role as President of the United States? Thomas Merton, a monk and author of the 20th century, voiced a similar thought. After observing men devoted to prayer, he wrote that they "are doing for their land what no army, no congress, no president could ever do as such: they are winning for it the grace and the protection and the friendship of God."
While I have personally decided that voting is a necessary and responsible choice for me, I will be campaigning not on my preferred candidate's trail but before heaven's audience. On November 15, I absolutely plan to exercise my civic privilege by casting my absentee ballot but I will all the more surely be exercising myself in the discipline of prayer to the King who holds the whole world in His hands.
History belongs to the intercessors. ~John Ortberg
