Not long ago, I called my congressman about something I thought was crucial. I did not call because I was sure it would change anything; it did not. I called simply to make myself feel better! It was a start, anyway.
What would you tell your congressman if you could? What would you tell the President? Perhaps you are unsure that it would do any good.
Now, let me ask you another question. What would you tell God about your leaders if you could? Do you think that this would do any good? Please think about that before proceeding, otherwise you may be wasting your time. If going to God about your leaders could change something, then what in the world are you waiting for?
Well, for starters, you may be uncertain about how to go about it. Thankfully, the Bible addresses this very issue in I Timothy 2:1-4. Let’s read that. The Bible says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
So, according to God’s Word, how should you pray for the President? Frankly, the Bible does not really tell us how to pray for “all that are in authority”; it simply implies it. What God does emphasize here is why to pray for our leaders. We tend to be fascinated with the “how to” of something without even stopping to consider the “why”! If you can understand why to pray for the President, it will help inform how you pray for him.
The reason you are to pray for your President has nothing to do with how you feel about him. In other words, it is not simply a matter of seeking the well-being of a President you like or seeking to do good to an enemy. No! It has to do with you!
God wants us to pray for our President “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” That is the reason! So, how should you pray? You should pray for your leaders each day in light of God’s priorities for you. We should surely pray for their protection, both because it is right and because our own peace is tied to it. But we are not to merely pray that each leader will have a nice day! We are to pray that right will prevail and wrong will not.
Now, let’s be honest in acknowledging one obvious prayer that would affect each of us. If the “all men” for whom we are to pray includes “kings, and … all that are in authority,” then who do you suppose would be included in the “all men” whom “God our Saviour … will have … to be saved” and for whom He “gave himself a ransom”? “All men” apparently included the Gentiles as well as Jewish people because Paul was ordained to teach even the Gentiles (I Timothy 2:7). “All men” must mean even a blasphemous, persecuting, educated but ignorant chief among sinners like Saul of Tarsus, because Paul uses his own testimony in I Timothy 1:12-16 to prove that God can do what the believers of Saul’s day thought impossible. Even our leaders need Christ.
Whether or not our leaders turn to God, we should. We should pray that His Truth will spread, and that nothing and no one will stop it. Under the most severe of leaders, believers of Paul’s day saw the Gospel spread undeterred; and that fact should encourage us today.
Years ago, a senate chaplain was asked if he prayed often for the senators. He replied, “No, I take a look at the senators, and I pray for the country!” We may understand his sentiment, but let us not forget that when we pray for our leaders, we pray for ourselves.
–taken from the July/August 2010 edition of the Branding Iron