Trump and Sweet Hour of Prayer

photo courtesy of YouTube

When I was Pastor we’d call on Brother So and So to pray. (It was in the dark ages when we didn’t call on women to pray in public.) And sometimes when we closed our eyes the pray-er must have had indigestion or something. Maybe a fight with his wife that morning. But after the “Our Father…” he’d go off on some kind of tirade. Sometimes it would be aimed at the Preacher. Sometimes the lack of money in the building fund…sometimes furtively thinly disguised directed toward one of his enemies in the church. Some member would sidle up to me after Church and whisper: “Well—we got some preach-praying this morning.” Which is not exactly what Prayer is supposed to be. 

One Sunday just weeks ago had been designated by Franklin Graham as a “special day of prayer for the president.” What? Unless I am mistaken what gives Franklin Graham the right to proclaim any kind of special day for anybody. I do believe Mr. Graham was quilty of a little preach-praying when he gave this proclamation. 

In response to Graham’s suggestion the President appeared that Sunday at a mega-church in Maclean Virginia. The White House of course set this up. At a loss for words the Pastor brought Trump on stage and had a special prayer. Trump, I am sure loved it, I am not sure about God. David Platt, the Pastor actually prayed a decent prayer.* You can read it for yourself. Later the Pastor said he had been blindsided since he did not ordinarily engage in partisan politics. 

But that is not the point. We are not to use religion to support some political person or their agenda. That really is preach-praying. Historically at the National Day of Prayer almost every President shows up. But this is a far cry for the subtle endorsement called: "A Special Day of Prayer for the President." We've already seen pictures of evangelical preachers surrounding our President with bowed heads. And when their photo op makes its way into the media I call this preach-praying. It gives the not-so-subtle suggestion that Mr. Trump is God’s man of the hour. 

Old time Baptists must be turning over in their graves. They believed in separation of church and state. In fact they believed the principle so strongly that they wrote it into tour Bill of Rights. Of course, the battle to separate church and state is forever with us. Dr. Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist leader took aim at the evangelicals who try to wrap our President in the Christian flag. Moore said these evangelicals defame the gospel by excusing “Trump’s profanities, racebaiting and courting white supremacists, boasting of adulterous affairs and debauching public morality…through the casino and pornography industries.” Mr. Moore sounds like an old-time Baptist.

Scripture admonishes us to pray for our leaders and for our country—but never does it support preach-praying. Linking God to some particular candidate. God is neither Republican or Democrat. Jesus did say when you pray do not be like those who stand where everybody sees them—but go into the closet and shut the door and pray secretly. For everybody. For everything. Certainly for the President and our country—and the whole wide world that God loves. 

I think Pastor Platt made a mistake when he called the President up to the Platform. He should of just recognized Mr. Trump, welcomed him andthen given his prayer which I have no complaints with. In fact it certainly was not preach-praying. And it did not endorse the President or any other political leader.

We see enough of our President without seeing him preening on some Church stage with his pious bowed head. There is a little book called Humor in the Pulpit. Lyman Beecher once prayed: “O Lord, grant that we may not despise our rulers; and grant, O Lord, that they may not act, so we can’t help it.” Samuel Eaton a Congregationalist disliked the Madisonian foreign policy: ”Lord, Thou hast commanded us to pray for our enemies; we would therefore pray for the President and Vice-President of these United States.” Henry Ward Beecher prayed after President Buchanan was out of office: “Thank you Lord for removing rulers imbecile in all but corruption.” When a prominent Preacher offered this prayer in Boston the papers reported: “That it was the finest prayer ever delivered to a Boston audience.”

Hmm. Looks like preach-praying can be on both sides of the aisle—but I could not resist some of these funny prayers. Remember Jesus did say in the Sermon on the Mount: “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them…”

Lest I did not get my point across—whatever it is—let us pray for our President and all our leaders that “ justice might roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I don’t believe you would call this preach-praying.

*Here is the Pastor's prayer on that Sunday:

O God, we praise you as the one universal king over all. You are our leader and our Lord and we worship you. There is one God and one Savior—and it’s you, and your name is Jesus. And we exalt you, Jesus. We know we need your mercy. We need your grace. We need your help. We need your wisdom in our country. And so we stand right now on behalf of our president, and we pray for your grace and your mercy and your wisdom upon him.

God, we pray that he would know how much you love him—so much that you sent Jesus to die for his sins, our sins—so we pray that he would look to you. That he would trust in you, that he would lean on you. That he would govern and make decisions in ways that are good for justice, and good for righteousness, and good for equity, every good path.

Lord we pray, we pray, that you would give him all the grace he needs to govern in ways that we just saw in 1 Timothy 2 that lead to peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way. God we pray for your blessing in that way upon his family. We pray that you would give them strength. We pray that you would give them clarity. Wisdom, wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Please, O God, give him wisdom and help him to lead our country alongside other leaders. We pray today for leaders in Congress. We pray for leaders in courts. We pray for leaders in national and state levels. Please, O God, help us to look to you, help us to trust in your Word, help us to seek your wisdom, and live in ways that reflect your love and your grace, your righteousness and your justice. We pray for your blessings on our president toward that end.

In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com