In a couple of months, our great country India goes to elections and the whole system is being geared up for that gigantic feat! Elections in a country like ours is a very big task. It involves huge amounts of money, great application of mind and an enormous engagement of men to conduct them in an orderly manner as per the constitution. For an average citizen, it is just going out to vote for his favourite or esteemed leader! But in reality, when we vote for someone we elect our rulers and leaders for the future. As responsible citizens, we must discern the kind of people that are contesting to be elected as our leaders and we must pray to God for His choice. As Simon Sinek put it, “Leadership is not about the next election, it’s about the next generation.” Romans 13:1 tells that it is God who appoints rulers and authorities over us! God picks up both the good and the bad leaders with a purpose to accomplish His perfect will in the world Romans 9:17! As believers, we must intercede before God for our country, its rulers and its well being. When the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ earnestly pray for this, the Lord will move in a mighty way to do His bidding. But alas, many so-called people of God do not even think of praying for the elections! We spend our time in watching the election news, in reading the “yellow journalism” (paid articles favouring a person or party) that appear in the newspapers, in discussing the electoral poll results predicted by the media gurus or political pundits! We continue to talk about the trends and bends that take place during the campaign and the election season with excitement. But seldom we pray or intercede to God for His intervention in all of this. Now we are at a crucial juncture in human history, so we must bend our knees before God and pray for our country and its elections. We must pray that there would be fairness in it, that right people are elected to rule the nation faithfully and most importantly God would grant us a government that is not anti-christian so that we may experience “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” as mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:1-3. May the Holy Spirit prompt us all to pray for the upcoming elections as a part of our role in the nation-building process.
