{"id":3242,"date":"2016-10-26T13:36:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T17:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3242"},"modified":"2016-10-26T13:36:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T17:36:47","slug":"prayer-godly-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/10\/prayer-godly-platform.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for a Godly Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">\u201cRepeat these basic essentials over and over to God\u2019s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won\u2019t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.\u201d (2 Timothy 2:15)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Are we not worn out with the nitpicking in this election? Has it not chipped away at our faith and\u00a0our hope for this nation? Sometimes we personalize politics too much. The medium is not the message. Rather than focusing on the medium (i.e. the flawed candidate), let&#8217;s take a look at the issues at stake that count the most in God\u2019s scheme of things and do our\u00a0research by &#8220;laying out the truth plain and simple&#8221; that is, &#8220;rightly dividing the word of Truth.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>Prayerfully<\/em> compare the platforms of each candidate with God\u2019s Word. In this election we cannot afford to focus solely on the\u00a0candidates themselves. There is far too much at stake to simply continue finger-pointing. We must compare platforms instead of personalities. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Once you have done your research, then (speaking from one believer to another), vote your conscience which is the voice of your spirit. When our spirits are submitted to God\u2019s Holy Spirit, wise and discerning decisions \u2013 regardless of how difficult\u00a0\u2013 can be made. Simply follow the peace that the Holy Spirit gives; do not follow the pundits, your family, your background, etc. Follow the Spirit who gives wisdom to those who simply ask.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Avoidance is always a temptation, but to refrain from voting\u00a0is simply lazy at best if not derelict of duty. Avoidance will not help\u00a0our nation. With all it&#8217;s strengths and beauties, it wobbles nonetheless under a top-heavy political system, financial overreach, and moral decline. Let\u2019s do our research and not be idle. Vote the platform that aligns with God&#8217;s principles. And if the platform shoe fits, wear it with confidence into the voting booth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2016\/10\/platform-shoe.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3245\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/224\/2016\/10\/platform-shoe-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"platform shoe\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">Father,<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">In this upcoming election I ask you to help me sort out the issues that are of top priority from Your perspective. You care about sparrows that fall, so you certainly care about kingdoms that teeter. Father, walk with me as I research and decide the best course of action to take, as I weigh the differences in party platforms and compare those platforms with your everlasting precepts. <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">Walk with me, guide me, teach me, change me, and use my vote in this election. <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">In Jesus\u2019 Name Amen<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cRepeat these basic essentials over and over to God\u2019s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won\u2019t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.\u201d (2 Timothy 2:15) Are we not worn&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,9,24,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1836,1924,1925,1706,1923],"class_list":["post-3242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-breaking-news","category-current-events","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-2016-presidential-election","tag-holy-spirit-led-voting","tag-presidential-election","tag-ten-commandments","tag-voting-your-conscience"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Prayer for a Godly Platform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/10\/prayer-godly-platform.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for a Godly Platform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cRepeat these basic essentials over and over to God\u2019s people. 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