Almighty and Sovereign God:
As our nation undergoes this presidential transition, we pray: “Thy Kingdom Come.”
May your Holy Spirit instill our president of righteousness and the values and principles of your kingdom to exercise the sacred trust of administering the nation.
Give our new president, his administration, and Congress the ability to honor you by doing what is right, fair, and just for all citizens, especially the poor, hungry, and marginalized.
We ask that all the people in our nation, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, or religious faith be treated with dignity.
We pray for the wholeness, health, integrity, soundness, welfare, security, prosperity, harmony, and justice of all the citizens of our nation.
Help our nation develop a foreign policy that fosters peace, justice, equality, and freedoms that can advance the development, rights, and privileges of our global neighbors.
Move our nation to provide international leadership in the good stewardship of all the natural resources that you have entrusted to humankind.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”
We pray for the governor of this state, for the members of the legislature, for judges, elected civil officials, and all others who are entrusted to guard our political welfare. May they be enabled, by your powerful protection, to discharge their duties with honesty and ability.
We likewise commend to your unbounded mercy all citizens of the United States, that we be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of your holy law. May we be preserved in union and that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
We pray to you, who are Lord and God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
May you have the grace and wisdom
To act kindly, learning
To distinguish between what is
Personal and what is not.
May you be hospitable to criticism.
May you never put yourself at the center of things.
May you act not from arrogance but out of service.
May you work on yourself
Building up and refining the ways of your mind, spirit, and body.
May those who work for you know
You see and respect them.
May you learn to cultivate the art of presence
In order to engage with those who meet you.
When someone fails or disappoints you,
May the graciousness with which you engage
Be their stairway to renewal and refinement.
May you never become a functionary.
May you know the wisdom of deep listening,
The healing of wholesome words,
The encouragement of the appreciative gaze,
The decorum of held dignity,
The springtime edge of the bleak question.
May you have a mind that loves the frontiers
So that you can evoke the bright fields
That lie beyond the view of the regular eye.
May you have good friends
To mirror your blind spots.
May leadership be for you
A true adventure of growth.
Grace this joyful day with your spirit and be a constant companion with my father in his Presidency.
May Saint Mary's College be a beacon, bringing to light in modern focus, the wonderfully traditional and ancient adage, “faith seeking understanding,”
May it be a bridge across all chasms that separate individuals from one another and may Saint Mary's be a crossroads where all the intellectual and moral currents of our times meet and are thoughtfully considered.
Please bless my Dad today and bless all who seek to know God's names and voices.
Amen.
Lord, help us not to fall prey to things like deception, false reports and false prophecies. Help us to be able to discern between the truth and lies. There has been so much falsehood in the election season, it's hard to know what is true. We ask that you open our eyes to the truth and rely on what you've told us to be true through your word.
Lord, so many are full of fear over what this new administration may bring. We ask you to speak comfort and hope to our hearts as we enter this new season. Help us to trust that you have good things planned for us and that if we put our trust in you, we won't be disappointed. We can't trust in rulers or government systems, but we can trust in you. Please help us to hope in you to bring about a good future.
Lord, your word says we will find you when we seek you with all our heart. We're asking you to please turn our hearts back to you, to help us to seek you in every area of our lives—in our families, our occupations, our choices, our responsibilities, and the resources and people we steward. We are accountable to you for everything we have and we ask that you help us to seek your heart and your will for everything entrusted to us. Where our hearts have gone astray after idols, Lord, where we have allowed something else to take your place, please correct us.
Lord, you instruct us to pray for our rulers, and so we ask you to please help Trump to rule our nation well. It is an incredibly difficult and taxing job he is stepping into, so we ask you to guide him with wisdom, understanding and humility. Please help his administration to make and implement just laws, to be diplomatic and gracious with other nations, and to care for the people in their charge. We ask for your mercy and grace on the President and his administration.
Whether you are planning on watching the inauguration or not, please take the time to pray as our nation enters a new season. A lot of people are anxious, fearful or upset about the situation. Whether you agree with these people or not, please be considerate. This is not a time to voice opinions or bring someone around to your point of view, but a time to minister to those who may be having a hard time with this election.