Praying for our Leaders-Psalm 20

In the world of politics it is very easy to fall into the trap of blaming. One day a friend and I were having lunch and it began to rain outside.  We were going to have to walk back in the rain and neither of us had rain gear.  He said “dang Obama.” Now before you get all excited thinking I am about to endorse a political candidate, you can enter any former presidents name into that statement.  The point is that we tend to blame our leaders for everything.  If the team doesn’t win the ballgame it is the coach’s fault.  It the company is losing money, it’s the CEO’s fault. If churches are dying it’s the pastor’s fault.  You get the picture.  That is not to say that we don’t have less than effective presidents, coaches, ceo’s and preachers.  We do.  The question becomes what is our responsibility in all of it.  Next time you are feeling critical of a leader I encourage you to turn to Psalm 20 and pray this Psalm for them.  The imagery of this Psalm describes a King leading in battle but the glory of praying the psalms is we can use them to form our own imagery, our own words, for our own situations.  God’s word is timeless.  It is a living document.  Stop right now and say a prayer for President Obama, say a prayer for the other leaders in your life:  Your pastor, your boss, your sheriff, and your Mayor.  Next time you sit down to Facebook to register your latest complaint on your status, why don’t you stop and instead pray.  Prayer is a powerful thing, the most powerful tool we have in our tool box.