You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.-Eph 2:19-20
Friends, God is good, all the time.
Luke, in today's passage, tells us how Jesus prayed before electing the twelve apostles from the many disciples that were following him. And to help us understand and appreciate the significance of the appointment, he adds that Jesus spent all night in prayer before God. The Lord gives the same urgency to our elections as Christians and members of God’s house. He prayed for the trust and faithfulness of the apostles he was going to choose. Therefore, let us also promote and secure our elections to be Christians in the spirit of constant prayer.
Jesus formed the lofty habit of putting a tremendous amount of time in prayer before acting on most occasions. He used prayer to maintain his relationship with the Father and as reliable support for accomplishing every end. Put in the front view of your lives instead of the rearview, becoming the foundation for all thoughts, decisions, and actions. Jesus' habitual prayer life was also consistent with his role as the Mediator between God and us. He needed to pray for his disciples and the world. With many people to intercede for, the Lord knew he had to be with God all that. But, in doing it, was he not leaving for us an example so that we may intercede for others? See yourself as a mediator before God in prayer and make time to pray for your family, friends, and the world.
Consider, for a moment, the reason for his prayer. It was an object of great importance to him as he would choose twelve people among many to entrust the Christian religion to their care. So, he needed to pray for guidance. If the Lord, who knew people's thoughts and hearts, prayed for guidance to choose his apostles, are we not to pray before making significant decisions about people? Human beings change, making it harder to perceive their motives and intentions. We are safer when we pray to God for direction, and only then can we trust our decisions about people. We must resort to intense prayer during elections for personal guidance about the person we choose.
We cannot depend only on the promises and the words we hear from politicians to determine our role in elections. What God leads us to do is far more important because it is the Lord who knows the thoughts and hearts of people. Pray for guidance about the person you should choose and pray for the country.