Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 28
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Let us pray for our political leaders. St Paul tells us in 1 Tim 2:1-3 that our top priority should be praying for kings and those in positions of high authority. Unless those who govern have God in their hearts, the lives of those they govern are going to be rather miserable. Knowing that the better the leader, the happier the people, helps us understand why Jesus as King of Kings, and the Kingdom of God He invites us into, are so important.

A quick look at the current local political scene reveals why the situation is so disturbing, and in need of prayer:

We have the citizenship crisis which has already caused by-elections and the introduction of new inexperienced members to parliament (particularly in the senate).

We have doubt about the short term and long term political stability of the current federal government.

We have a lot of vitriol in the media resulting from post-mortems of the Queensland state elections, as we wait for a final result to emerge.

We have the Victorian lower house poised to pass euthanasia legislation into law.

We have a federal government seemingly willing to pass same sex marriage legislation without ensuring safeguards of freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom to teach traditional marriage, and freedom to practice religion.

We have members of parliament who have said they will vote to pass same sex marriage legislation despite the plebiscite vote in their electorates being No.

So let's pray....

We pray for those politicians who did the right thing and resigned from parliament when they discovered they were dual citizens. For those not returning to political life may God guide them to where they can best serve the needs of the communities in which they live. For all those who are candidates in by-elections, may they be given the grace to truly listen to the people in their electorates and the courage to work for their highest good. May God grant that any unworthy candidates, due to corruption and significant moral failings, not win their elections.

We pray for those who have recently won parliamentary seats in elections, and those who will be chosen in the by-elections to come. May each one of them be given special graces of both moral and spiritual conversion.

We pray for those politicians who up until now have been too weak to stand up against the prevailing majority and to speak up for the truth, and who due to weakness have not defended human life from natural conception until natural death. May God grant them the grace to fear His opinion of them far more than they fear the opinion of their parliamentary colleagues and leaders. May God remove the blinders from their eyes, so that they can clearly see the truth and eternal consequences of each decision they make, and the requisite courage to act accordingly.

May God raise up a new breed of politician, a breed firmly convinced that the success of a government is measured by how well they have served the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities.

May God raise up candidates for election and public office who are worthy of being voted in. May our election choices from this point onwards not be between bad and worse, but between great and excellent.

May all those who have been guilty of corruption in public office, or guilty of turning a blind eye to corruption in public office be each granted a true spirit of conversion, penance and reparation.

May those elected leaders who have betrayed electorates and colleagues and leaders for the sake of political and financial gain be given the grace to repent and to seek forgiveness and pardon from God and from all whom they have wronged.

May all of our political leaders be given the will to remove from parliaments all the processes that waste time and resources, and the grace to come together respectfully and bipartisanly to seek the very best solutions for the common good not only of those they were elected to serve but of all humanity as well.

We pray for those political representatives who see politics as a game of thrones and who only see value in short term sound-bite or photo-opportunity wins and not in getting things right for the long term. May God convert them amazingly, or remove them gently from office. O God, please raise up a new breed of politician who wants to enable long term good to be done and who is unconcerned who wins the credit.

We pray for the political king-makers and party whips, may they be given the gift of Samuel to discern who has the anointing of God upon them for leadership, and all the gifts needed to properly train and prepare them to govern with the wisdom of Solomon.

We pray that a new spirit of unity come upon our political parties, so that factional divisions may recede before the needs of the common good of the people they were elected to serve. May the days of political point scoring, as the priority above all else, be over.

Heavenly Father, please may we live to see political leaders whose one desire is to please You, to seek You and Your holy will, to do Your will, and to serve the people You have entrusted to them to the best of their ability. May that day of rejoicing be soon. Amen.
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St Thomas More, pray for us
Blessed Charles of Blois, pray for us
St Vladimir of Kiev, pray for us
St Stephen of Hungary, pray for us

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 13
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We are living in interesting times politically. If our prophets are to be believed, it is part of a shaking by God to remove corruption so that the structures of the culture of death can be undone and the structures of a culture of life rebuilt.

In our nation a citizenship scandal has been unfolding, and several electorates are facing by-elections because their former representative was technically a dual citizen of another country at the time of his/her election. Given just how much post WW2 migration there was to this country, and how many children of those brave immigrants are now of an age to be politically engaged, it isn't really surprising. What is surprising is that no one really took this part of the Constitution seriously until now.

Out of this process three options are possible. The emergence of worse leadership, the emergence of 'more of the same' leadership, and the emergence of new leaders with good morals whom we'd be happy to vote for. What is the only way of ensuring that we get the third option – lots of prayer!

I'm desperately unhappy about the current leadership of our major political parties. I'd love to be able to vote for a political leader who had both the vision and the capability to put the needs of the weakest and most vulnerable first.

Knowing that God's providence goes before us, we have to believe that there are good leaders waiting in the wings, ones who have a particular calling from God on their lives for this very purpose. They probably don't look like much at the moment (think David, Gideon, Joshua and Elisha) but God knows that they are capable of great good. They don't even have to be believers (think Cyrus).

These are the ones we should be praying for now, the ones that have been in God's preparation rooms for a while - and if there is sufficient prayer – who will soon be in leadership. Of this we can be sure, that the enemies of God have them in their sights and are trying to keep them hidden and considered of no account.

These chosen leaders need our prayers now. They will need our prayers later too, but now is a particularly important time to pray, especially as the political landscape gets more fluid and turbulent. In fact, every time you pray for our leaders (which you are already doing as per St Paul's exhortation in 1 Tim 2:1-3) you should pray for their successors as well.

Enough talking, let's pray….

Heavenly Father each day we pray as Jesus Your Son taught us, and pray that Your kingdom may come. He asked us to pray it, so You must very much want to answer it. Forgive us for not being as passionate about Your kingdom as You are.

To usher in Your kingdom we need leaders after Your own Heart. We need the new David's, Moses's, Joseph's and Solomon's, but without the moral weaknesses that undid so much of their good work.

Only You, Lord God, can raise them up to accomplish Your whole purpose. Only You, Lord God, can bring to nothing all the delays and obscurifications of the enemy. Only You, Lord God can give them the Wisdom that sits by Your side. Only You, Lord God, can call together the support teams that they need to govern effectively, who will get them the truth, and tell them the truth and work for the best solutions for the maximum common good of our peoples.

Please send Your Holy Spirit upon them to give them the gifts and charisms that they need to lead Your people, and the ability to inspire others to goodness, and the ability to call forth and encourage the gifts and charisms of others into productive teams.

If some of them need a Damascus Road experience like St Paul, then please work in their lives to bring about a powerful conversion to You and Your ways.

Many of them have been blinded by the falsehoods promoted by the culture of death. In Your great goodness dear Heavenly Father please remove all instances of this blindness from them and grant them the clarity and beauty of Your truth.

Please grant to them the grace to be able to stand up for Your truth, no matter how heavy the pressure to give in to any unholy political party policies.

Please help them to root out of their lives any immorality and any inappropriate relationships.  Bless their spouses and their children, and bless and protect the relationships of love that bind them together.

In Your goodness please call forth teams of intercessors who will pray for these chosen leaders whom You are raising up in our days, and who will pray for them unremittingly.

Please grant to these chosen leaders the precious gift of prayer, that they may seek You and Your will for them and those entrusted to them daily and diligently. Grant to them an earnestness to seek Your solutions and strategies for the good of the nation, and to always consult You as their best and closest counselor in all of their decisions.

May these chosen leaders be given the gifts necessary to foster unity, mutual respect and co-operation between nations.
Amen.