The Privilege of Prayer - My Invocation Before the Texas House of Representatives

Author: Andy Woods
Date Written: January 16, 2015
From the archive of thewordonpolitics.com

Thanks to the sponsorship of my state representative in the TX House Rick Miller, I was afforded the privilege of opening the legislative session in prayer on Thursday. Here is a copy of my prayer before the TX House of Representatives.  

Invocation Before the TX, House of Representatives on Jan. 15, 2015 By Dr. Andy Woods:

Shall we pray? Father in heaven we acknowledge that this legislative body and its members and leaders would not exist were it not for your gracious hand. Your Word states, "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" (Rom. 13:1) and it is you who "removes kings and establishes kings" (Dan. 2:21). We also acknowledge that governments are instituted among men to accomplish your purposes upon the earth. “Governors [are] as sent by [God] for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right" (1 Pet. 2:14; Rom. 13:3-4). We are also mindful of our responsibilities as citizens to pray for those in government who rule over us. "I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We further acknowledge that we are to pray for those in government because "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Prov. 21:1). So today Father we specifically pray for the Texas House of Representatives. We thank you for the gifted men and women that you have called to serve in this body. We specifically pray for their protection and encouragement. We ask that you would be intimately involved in their decision-making. We ask that this body would accomplish your purposes for its existence. We ask that they would seek your will, your Word, and your face as they shape laws and policies for generations to come. We also ask that these legislators and all who assist them would be ever mindful of the fact that first and foremost that they are your servants. “For rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing" (Rom. 13:4). We also ask that these legislators would be ever that mindful that they are also servants of those that have elected them and have entrusted political power, decision making authority, and influence to them. And finally Father help us all, as citizens and governors alike, to recognize the futility of governing without you. As Benjamin Franklin said during America’s Constitutional Convention, "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that 'except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall be become a reproach and a bye word down to future age" (See James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, 3 vols., ed. Henry D. Gilpin [Mobile, AL: Mygatt, 1842], 2:984-85). We ask all of these things Father in the name of your precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.