During this inauguration week, and on behalf of our new president, I offer the following prayer:
Our Heavenly Father,
I earnestly plead with you for our new president. I believe the words of Romans 13:1, which declare, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Therefore, in faith, I understand you have providentially purposed that Joseph Biden become my president. With this in mind, please hear my prayer.
I pray you cause him to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I ask that you stir within him a deep and sincere longing for you; not for the things of the world or of his position or of his power, but for you, O Triune God. Woo him to yourself in a fresh and tender manner. Show him that anything short of you will in no way satisfy him, and that only within you is found true joy and ultimate solace. Your Word says you satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (see Matthew 5:6). Move in President Biden’s heart so he would daily bend his knee toward the Lord Jesus Christ. O God, may President Biden seek to be made full by you and you alone.
I pray you would overwhelm President Biden with your wisdom. In your Word you tell us that you give wisdom “generously” (James 1:5). Please do so for our president. Grant him wisdom beyond measure; the discernment needed to choose right from wrong, good over evil, best over what is merely good, and true justice over injustice. As a gift of common grace, grant him your wisdom—the very wisdom a ruler with a global reach should have.
I pray that along with this wisdom there would be an infusion of great courage—courage to choose righteousness even when it is not popular, courage to celebrate the true dignity of all image bearers, courage to aggressively stand against tyranny and evil at home or abroad, and courage to live in dependence upon you.
I pray you would help him soar above the awful partisanship that has gridlocked our nation for too many years. Move in such a way that he would fly above the posturing and the manipulation. Enable him to lead in a way that rises above childish goings-on. Grant him favor with women and men from all walks of life, and allow him to extend to them profound goodness. May it be that through his leadership unity would overcome estrangement, and that the pursuit of what is noble, just, and best for our nation would override sectarian considerations.
I pray you would move President Biden’s soul to aggressively affirm the sanctity of all human existence—from womb to tomb—in our land. Cause him to stand boldly against the marginalization and destruction of those with little or no power or opportunities—no matter their age or gender or cultures or languages or ethnicities. Let his heart willingly step into the national bully pulpit, from which place he can rally our consciences toward something better than division based upon control or color or creed. May he lead us in celebrating the dignity of all image bearers, no matter who they are or from where they come.
I pray you would move in President Biden’s soul to use his unique platform to call our nation toward transcendent values. Our nation needs to have its heart softened, made tender, made to stand in holy awe of transcendent principles and the eternal God who grants them. Matters ranging from the design of the family to giving a voice to the voiceless to dealing with the effects of terror and disease, and so forth, find their best solutions in the timeless treasure which is God’s holy Word. May our president call us to reach for that heavenly prudence that is higher than we.
I pray you would sustain President Biden with the kind of stamina needful for a position such as his. May he find rest and refreshment often. May his physical well-being remain strong. May his personal constitution afford him energy and strength for the burdensome tasks each day brings.
I pray you would protect President Biden and his family. Protect them from Satan. Protect them from temptation and self-deception. Protect them from fear and dissension. Protect them from undue discouragement. Protect them, O Great Father, from physical danger, mitigating any and all true threats against them, either from the spiritual realm or the earthly realm.
I pray, O God of Heaven, that you would forgive me for the many times I choose criticism of our national leaders, including our presidents, over and above humble and earnest prayer on their behalf. May I and those I love always have a humble bearing toward our leaders, an honest bearing toward our leaders, a righteous bearing toward our leaders, ever mindful that we are in fact citizens of these United States, and with that comes sobering responsibility. Yet, when all is said and done, we are, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, chiefly citizens of a greater realm (cp. Philippians 3:20), the kingdom of God, and from God comes all that is needful for true and just and purposeful living.
With humility, may we bear that truth above all.
In the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.