Prayer For Inauguration
Our Father and our God, we thank You today for the privilege of coming into Your presence on this historic and solemn occasion.
We thank You for Your gracious hand which has preserved us as a nation. We praise You for the peaceful continuity of government that this Inauguration represents.
We recall that the Bible says, Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it (Psalm 127: 1, KJV). You also said that to whom much has been given, much shall be required.
We look gratefully to the past, and thank You that from the very foundations of America You granted our forefathers courage and wisdom, as they trusted in You. So we ask today that You would inspire us by their example; where there has been failure, forgive us; where there has been progress, confirm; where there has been success, give us humility; and teach us to follow Your instructions more closely as we enter the next century.
Give to all those to whom You have entrusted leadership today a desire to seek Your will and to do it.
And now we come to a new era in our history. In Thy sovereignty Thou hast permitted George Bush to lead us at this momentous hour of our history for the next four years. As he today places his hand upon the Bible and solemnly swears before Thee to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, give him the wisdom, integrity and courage to help this become a nation that is gentle and kind. Protect him from physical danger, and in the lonely moments of decision grant him Thy wisdom to know what is morally right and an uncompromising courage to do it. Give him a cool head and a warm heart. Give him a compassion for those in physical, moral and spiritual need. O God, we consecrate today George Herbert Walker Bush to the presidency of these United States with the assurance that from this hour on, as he and his family move into the White House, they will have the presence and power of the One who said, I will never leave thee or forsake thee.
And now, on this twentieth day of January, 1993, we commit to you President-elect (Bill) Clinton and Vice-President-elect (Al) Gore, who you have permitted to take leadership at this critical time in our nation's history. Help them always to see the office to which they've been elected as a sacred trust from you. We pray that you will bless their wives who will share so much of the responsibility and burdens. Make President-elect Clinton know that he is never really alone but that the eternal God can be his refuge and he can turn to you in every circumstance. Give him the wisdom you've promised to whose who ask and the strength that you alone can give. We thank you for his predecessor President Bush and the dedication he gave to this office. Bless him as he and Mrs. Bush continue their dedicated service to our country in other spheres. We commit this inaugural ceremony to you and ask that the memory of this event may always remind us to pray for our leaders. I pray this in the name of the one that's called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. Amen.
We pray, 0 Lord, for President-elect George W. Bush and Vice President-elect Richard B. Cheney, to whom You have entrusted leadership of this nation at this moment in history. We pray that You'll help them bring our country together so that we may rise above partisan politics and seek the larger vision of Your will for our nation.
Use them to bring reconciliation between the races, healing to political wounds, that we may truly become one nation under God. Give our new president, and all who advise him, calmness in the face of storms, encouragement in the face of frustration, and humility in the face of success. Give them the wisdom to know and to do what is right, and the courage to say no to all that is contrary to Your statutes of holy law.
Our Father and our God, Thou hast said, Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord. We recognize on this historic occasion that we are a nation under God. We thank Thee for this torch of faith handed to us by our forefathers. May we never let it be extinguished. Thou alone hast given us our prosperity, our freedom and our power. This faith in God is our heritage and our foundation!
Thou hast warned us in the Scriptures, If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? As George Washington reminded us in his farewell address, morality and faith are the pillars of our society. We confess these pillars are being eroded in an increasingly materialistic and permissive society. The whole world is watching to see if the faith of our fathers will stand the trials and tests of the hour. Too long we have neglected Thy word and ignored Thy laws. Too long we have tried to solve our problems without reference to Thee. Too long we have tried to live by bread alone. We have sown to the wind and are now reaping a whirlwind of crime, division, and rebellion.
And now with the wages of our sins staring us in the face, we remember Thy words, If my people who are called by my Name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Dear Father, as the transition of power is taking place in our nation this week, we take time to pray for our leaders as Paul brings the charge in Scripture, The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you kow how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. (1 Tim. 2:1-3, The Message)
We, therefore, come before you on behalf of the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, as he is inaugurated as our 45th President. We thank you, Father, for his willingness to accept such a daunting task on behalf of the citizens of our dear nation. We thank you for his commitment to our land even as we lift him, the appointments he has and will make, along with everyone in Washington with whom he will work, before your grace and your wisdom.
We ask, Father, that you will give President Trump a clear sense of direction for his administration. Like King David of old, whom the Scriptures hail as model ruler and man after your own heart, help our President to pray I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity (1 Chronicles 29:17). We know that this kind of humility resulted in David's government heralded in song, And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them (Psalm 78:72). Thus, we pray for President Trump to have a heart that governs the whole of our nation as it seeks to engage the whole of your counsel; and, we ask that you empower his hands for practical leadership to bring us together as the people we have always believed it our destiny to be blessed to be a blessing within this world.
Help President Trump to sing in all sincerity the song King David sang as he led his people, The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent men you save me. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies (2 Samuel 22:2-4). Give him, Father, a sense of your refuge and strength as he leads us in a turbulent world. For all the strengths of leadership he brings to office and the pormise that his skills offer, we ask that you help him to daily submit to the the stronghold of your presence in order to balance the impressions that experience and opinions and varied points of view will seek to apply for his attention.
Father, President Trump's job carries more weight and responsibility than any of our citizenry can imagine, and we can imagine so much! So for the difficulty of the days, we ask that you will help him to sense your wisdom for the journey. Help him to hear you speak from that wisdom as you did to Joshua leading his govenrnment in Old Testament days: Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey [the LORD] and do not turn from him to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you goBe strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:6-9). Lead our new President with such confidence from your presence, Father.
And, as President Obama concludes his historic days of service for our nation, we thank you for his trust in your grace a trust that has sustained him in the difficult days of governing a trust that will lead him and his family into further days of service. Thank you, Father, for his encouragement to us just this past year: If Easter means anything, it's that you don't have to be afraid. We drown out darkness with light, and we heal hatred with love, and we hold on to hope. And we think about all that Jesus suffered and sacrificed on our behalf scorned, abandoned, shunned, nail-scarred hands bearing the injustice of his death and carrying the sins of the world (White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, 2016). As he leaves office, help us to remember President Obama's word pointing us to Jesus as our place of healing and hope. Help him, Father, and all of us, to continue to look to Jesus as the author and perfector of our faith as we pray on for the health and well-being of our nation and it's new President.
In many ways, Dear Father, ours is a divided nation yet a nation whose divisions are filled with passionate concerns, cultural strengths, and deeply-felt values. So, for President Trump, for Congress, for state and local government officials and for each one of us in our places of boots on the ground democracy, we pray that you will help us have a heart for one another so that we seek to understand the reasoning of others' passions and that we submit to be borne up by the strengths others contribute even as we share our values in the context of mutual respect deserving of neighbors living side by side. Help us to embrace one another as American brothers and sisters so as to reap the bounty of opposable minds geared toward the good you desire we have in common!
We are praying, Father, in the name of Jesus, for the blessing of your acknoweledged presence in the lives of those who now lead us, Amen and Amen.
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 livesin 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.
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.