“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Jesus Christ in John 7:24 (NKJV)
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2
Dear Praying Friends,
Happy New Year, 2012! We find ourselves in a pivotal election year. Every two years we American citizens have the opportunity freely to choose our leaders. Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and 1/3 of the seats in the U.S. Senate are up for election. The Presidency is up for election this year, as it is every four years. Then there are thousands of state and local offices that must be filled.
Exercising our right to vote, we can elect leaders who could radically change the direction of our nation.
Choosing Civil Leaders – With the Iowa caucuses behind us, the Republican Presidential primaries beginning and a general election ahead of us I am deeply burdened that those who pray must be informed, and must in turn pray, inform and motivate others to pray aright. This will be the most important election of our lifetimes.
No set of guidelines for choosing civil leaders improves upon the simple list given by God to Moses through his father-in-law, Jethro, for the choosing the civil leaders of ancient Israel (see Ex 18:21). God gave specific directions for consecrating the Priests – the religious leaders elsewhere (e.g., Ex 28-29).
Moses was instructed to look for:
1) Ability – The KJV says “able men,” which means men who have the skills and experience and gravitas to lead and to get the job done. We cannot shoot in the dark and choose a great orator who does not have a track record of faithfulness and accomplishment.
2) The Fear of God – Nothing will substitute for the fear of God. Our entire civil government is built upon the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the premise that our civil rights come from God and that to Him we must give an account. No one who does not recognize that we are “one nation under God” will be able to lead us and to protect our fundamental rights. The Constitution forbade religious tests for federal offices as a way of preventing the dominance of any one denomination–not as a way of excluding God from public life or denying our biblical heritage. Now, however, an army of secularists and atheizers want to steal that biblical heritage away from us. Voters have every right to act on the conviction that only men or women who fear God are fit to serve in positions of authority over others.
3) Men of Truth – This means men who love The Truth – the eternal principles of God’s law and the Ten Commandments–and men who practice truth telling. Lying politicians have become a by-word in our society today, yet we elect and reelect men who lie or twist, cover up, and distort the truth. We who believe must pray for, support and help elect men and women whom we know to a track record of honesty.
4) Men who Hate Covetousness – Candidates who have an assiduously clean record of business dealings and a public record of treating the taxpayer dollar as sacred – to be spent for constitutional purposes and not for all kinds of social programs that do not fall within the purview of the purpose of government – to provide law and order, a framework for criminal and civil justice and national security. America is bankrupt because elected officials have gone far afield from the fundamental God-given mission of civil government found in Romans 13:1 ff. Though its original author cannot be established, it is a truism that:
A democracy …can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.
If our nation is to survive and thrive, it will be because we elect men and women who meet the simple requirements God gave Moses for selecting civil leaders 3500 years ago.
Americans now have an opportunity to choose our leaders again. Many believe that without a reversal of economic and moral policies established during the last few years, the United States will cease to be a free nation. We who study God’s Word know that He raises up and puts down leaders and nations, and that the prayer and obedience of God’s people are determinative of the degree to which He will bless our nation with godly leaders or otherwise. It is our duty to pray and vote for god-fearing leaders and to pray for the political defeat of those who advance unrighteousness.
- May we consecrate ourselves and our families to pray and take action as never before, asking God to turn the tide in our nation this year! May we fast often, and use our influence to recruit everyone we know to do likewise. May we join organized prayer calls, attend prayer events and use our citizenship privileges to speak out, write letters to the editor and support god-fearing candidates (Ex 32:29-34; Neh 4:20; Eze 33:2-9; Joel 1:13; 2:12-18; Jonah 3:5-10; Mt 3:7-12; Acts 3:17-26).
- Lord, have mercy upon us and our children. Grant wholehearted repentance to your people and mobilize us to be the spiritual army you intend us to be. Deliver us and our governments from evil. Raise God-fearing men and women to positions of public leadership and service. May pastors and churches mightily engage this year to influence the outcome of November’s elections for righteousness! May You give America cause to rejoice this year (Jdg 5:1-15a ff; Ps 75:4-10; 86:5-15; 110:3; Lam 3:22; Eze 38:5-10; Mk 10:47).
- May God grant us discernment to elect a President and other officials whom He can bless! May we cry out to God while we can, and may He send a gracious turning in our nation – a turning back to Him! In Jesus name. Amen (Ex 18:21; Dt 17:14-20; Josh 24:15; 2 Chr 7:14; Pr 1:22-33; Joel 2:12-18; Lk 12:51-5; 6; Jn 9:4).
Sincerely,
Rev. Pierre Bynum
National Prayer Director
Email: pbynum@frc.org
Family Research Council
801 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-2100
Fax: 202-393-2134
Web: www.frc.org
