Prayer: “Lord, please help our President. Be with him. Show yourself strong for his belief’s sake. Surround him with wise counsel. Dispel darkness around him and keep him safe.”

Yes, this is a real prayer I’ve prayed. Yes, it was for our current leader. No, I’m not kidding.

I pray for every President. No matter what. It’s not an allegiance to the person; it’s out of obedience to my faith. After all, his decisions directly affect me. My arrival to this sentiment stems from my family. We have military blood in our veins and my love for social science rounded off my respect to the nearest election. This has been difficult lately with the lewd and ludicrous verbiage that grazes my ears from our President and his like-minded followers. At times, I felt my tolerance plummet to a negative numeral. One day, I was furious at what I heard from his lips and I heard God say “He’s mine, too.” That was such an eye-opening, gut-wrenching thing to say. I just shook my head and said “And grace extends to him too. I gotta pray for him like everybody else.” *sigh* I didn’t like it, but it was the Truth. I had to separate the person from the persona.

One lesson I taught my students was that the President and the Presidency are not the same. The President is a person; the Presidency is an office. In social science, it includes him and his Cabinet because all fall under succession of the executive branch. So, no matter who sits in the seat, the authority is the same.

That’s why my prayers can’t change on this one. God charged us to pray for our leaders. Hold them accountable, sure… but don’t let the prayer be tainted with your opinion of the person. The seat is the same.

So, dig deep. I know it is difficult for some and easy for others, but pray nonetheless. Everyone needs it especially the ones you don’t think deserve it. After all, what good is it to pray for only those you like?

Peace & Thanks for listening!