Election Day Prayer

I, like a lot of people, am praying for our nation today. The Serenity Prayer gives me a sense of peace, even with so much anger surrounding the possible outcome of this election.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

Here are a few other things I’ve prayed about, though they were random thoughts as I spoke to God, and not bullet points. 🙂

Dear God,

• Thank you for this great country we live in, though I realize that greatness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
• Thank you for the privilege to vote. Please protect the integrity of our vote and let us all be assured of that integrity.
• Thank you for all the volunteers who help with the elections and voting. Please protect them from physical or emotional harm.
• Help us to accept the outcome of the election with grace, and help me to be open-minded, to give the new president the best opportunity to be the leader we need him/her to be.
• After the election, please help those whose nominee is elected to win with grace and help those whose nominee does not win to let go, open their hearts. Help us to find what we have in common rather than what is different so that we won’t be so divisive.
• Remind our Congress of compromise. Somehow, it’s become a bad word. Help us all to realize it’s not.
• Guide the press away from sensationalization and spin of the news and help us to be wise to the ways in which we can be manipulated.
• Thank you for my blessings. In these difficult times, please help us to focus on them.

Amen

That last line reminds me of another favorite prayer of mine–my Grandma’s prayer that she used to say before each meal. It begins:

Dear Lord, humble our hearts, and make us truly grateful for these and all thy blessings.

Humility and gratitude. My Grandma was a wise woman. I think her prayer pretty much sums up what I pray for today.

Happy Election Day!