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Texas GOP Congressman Tony Gonzales recently gave his peers in the House of Representatives a stern wake-up call about the aftermath of the presidential election regardless of which party wins. He urged the House to step up and start leading.
Although this warning was issued to leaders in the nation, I felt that much of what he was speaking about was also a wake-up call to the church. Here is what Rep. Gonzales said and how it gives direction in prayer for our nation and one another.
“We must be willing to admit when we’ve made mistakes—stop blaming everyone else for what’s wrong.”
Pray for justice to be done. And will not [our just] God defend and avenge His elect [His chosen ones] who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf (Luke 18:7 AMP).
Pray for accountability from our governmental leaders. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned (Matthew 12:36-37 NIV).
Pray for accountability in the church. We can’t blame the government and church leaders for everything wrong in this nation. We have to own our mistakes and repent of them, too. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’ and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).
“The country and lawmakers need bravery moving forward . . . ”
Pray for our lawmakers and leaders to be brave. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34 ESV).
Pray for the church to be brave and stand for righteousness. The wicked flee when no one pursues them, But the righteous are as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1 AMP).
“. . . focus on bipartisan solutions to our problems.”
The Congressman used the word bipartisan more than once. Bipartisanship involves two parties working together towards a common goal. While we usually see two parties at war, the goal of bipartisanship is supposed to be an agreement for the good of the people they are called to serve.
Pray for our nation’s leaders to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ and put our country’s needs before their agenda. Pray for leaders on both sides of the aisle, as we are commanded to do in Scripture: Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
Bipartisanship is for politics. However, the church has a similar problem. We lack unity. We do not show up to support other churches or each other. We should work together for the greater good, advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ and promoting His kingdom. But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith] (1 Corinthians 1:10 AMP).
Pray for the church to move in unity to fulfill God’s plan for us. We are not meant to remain as children at the mercy of every chance wind of teaching and the jockeying of men who are expert in the craft presentation of lies. But we are meant to hold firmly to the truth in love, and to grow up in every way into Christ, the head. For it is from the head that the whole body, as a harmonious structure knit together by the joints with which it is provided, grows by the proper functioning of individual parts to its full maturity in love (Ephesians 4:14-16).
Congressman Gonzales hopes for bipartisanship to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship before federal elections. He warns that we must have these safeguards because non-citizens are voting, and we should know it.
Non-citizens are voting. The young generations are voting. Christians, sadly, are not voting. Statistics say 25 million Christians registered to vote will not vote in the presidential elections. This is why IFA created Pray the Vote 2024, so that intercessors can pray for these Christians who have biblical values and are not likely to vote. You can pray for voters by name! Go to PraytheVote2024.com and make a difference now.
Pray for election integrity to be restored and for every attempt to cheat to be null and void. He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely, but he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished (Proverbs 10:9 AMP).
Church, don’t just pray for elections; show up. Exercise your faith by voting. Thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works (James 2:17-18).
The Congressman issued his statement as a warning and call to action to his fellow representatives. Church, can you hear the urgency and applicability to us? We have to break free from complacency and stagnation and go forward in God’s will.
Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, just as the LORD had told me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days. And the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘You have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward (Deuteronomy 2:1-3 AMP).
After circling the same mountain, God told His people, “Enough, stop going in circles, and go north!” Have we done enough of the same thing and gotten nowhere? We may need to turn northward. They were on a mountain, but God was calling them north. It was a call to come up higher. He calls us to ascend the hill of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart (see Psalm 24).
In the previous chapter (see Deuteronomy 1:6 NLT), the Lord tells his people the same thing, except He says, “It’s time to break camp and move on.” The word break means to separate suddenly or violently. In other words, God was saying, “Move and do it now, no more delay.”
I sense that God is asking us to move without delay, right now. Are there things, situations, and people God calls you to separate from? Now is the time to examine and do what the Lord asks you. It’s always time to pray, but there is also a time to act, to step out in faith and do what He has told us. The results and outcome are up to God, but the obedience is up to us.
What do you think of Rep. Gonzales’ challenge? Please share with a friend!
IFA contributing writer Gloria Robles is a passionate intercessor with a prophetic voice for today. For more from Gloria, go to Spotify or Anchor and listen to her podcast, Something To Share. Photo credit: Getty Images.