Election Prayer

Monday January 23 is election day in Canada. This is a (modified) segment from the Prayers of the People this morning:
God who calls us to live together, to share our joys and sorrows, we pray this day for all who will be going to polling stations tomorrow. We pray that we all will have wisdom and discernment to choose what we believe to be right for our country. Grant that we may have the strength to make choices based on a vision of what we could be, rather than out of fear of what may be.

We pray for all who have chosen to put their name forward. May they be gracious both in victory and defeat. May they all feel able, after the votes are counted, to continue working towards a better Canada, whether inside the Parliament or outside.

We pray for those who will be elected, the ones who will sit on the government benches and the ones who will sit on the opposition benches. Grant them, we pray, wisdom, courage, strength and discernment. Allow that they will use more energy dealing with the truly important issues and not get distracted by the flashy issues that make for good headlines and sound bites.

God who calls us to live together in joy and sorrow, these things we pray in the name of Jesus, the one who calls us all to work for a world where we can all live together in your shalom. Amen