Especially When We Disagree With Them?
Last week, we considered six groups of people the Bible tells us to pray for, and I received many positive responses.
If you missed it, you might want to hop across and read that post since what I write about here builds on one of those six groups.
A few people told me they find it difficult to pray for national and world leaders, particularly those they didn’t vote for. So, I wanted to explore this theme further.
Most of us have a love/hate attitude toward world leaders, and it can sometimes be hard to see how we can meaningfully pray for them.
But if we don’t like how things are going in our city or nation, we must obey the apostle Paul’s exhortation to pray for our leaders.
First, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — kings and all those in authority — so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Saviour. (1 Timothy 2:1–2, NIV)
What? Do you mean I need to pray for those politicians and leaders who do the exact opposite of what I voted for?
Yes — you need to pray for those leaders even more.
Paul’s teaching is a timely reminder that we should pray for our leaders regularly — not just so that we get them to do what we want — but in obedience to the Bible.
We know from the Bible that God can shape the hearts of world leaders for His purposes.
In the Lord’s hand, the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels towards all who please him. (Proverbs 21:1, NIV)
But how should we pray for our leaders? Here are a few pointers:
For God’s will to be fulfilled through global and local government structures and policies.
For our leaders to seek God and listen to Him that they might find insight into their decision-making.
For God to give great wisdom and discernment when leaders have to make tough choices
For our leaders to be surrounded by godly counsel and — even more importantly — listen to that counsel
For our leaders to understand the source of their authority and be held back from despotic authoritarianism.
Our elected leaders need our prayers — even if they are not the ones who we personally voted for.
Remember: Interceding for those in authority is not just something we do if the party we voted for are in power. It is a biblical command that we are to obey.
But surely, you might argue, we can’t be expected to pray for people who carry out policies we find repugnant?
Well, understand this — the Apostle Paul was writing this instruction to his protégé, Timothy, at a time when the vile emperor Nero was at the helm of the Roman Empire.
Christians were being viciously persecuted, clothed in wild animal skins and put in the arena before hungry lions — even covered in pitch and used as human lanterns to light the streets of Rome.
Nevertheless, the faithful apostle, who was soon to be martyred during Nero’s reign of terror, instructs Timothy to pray for the rulers of his day — yes, even including the deranged Emperor Nero.
Believe me, the rulers of this present age — whether Putin, Trump, Farage, Starmer or whoever — are far from the first world leaders to court controversy.
But remember this: neither Kings, nor Presidents, nor Mayors, nor Members of Parliament are the ultimate authority. God is.
The Psalmist reminds us that earthly leaders will sometimes go off on their sweet way, turning their backs on the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and his anointed (Psalm 2:2, NIV)
But in verse 4 of the same Psalm, we see that their grab for power is illusory and temporary: The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
When the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles who lived in Babylonian captivity, he encouraged them not to protest or rebel against their captors but to pray for them:
Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace (Jeremiah 29:7, NIV)
Even amid an evil and wicked land, Jeremiah focused the minds of those in captivity to pray for God’s blessing.
Praying for those in authority means constantly asking that the Lord open their hearts to the Bible's deeply radical, challenging words. By the way, that doesn’t mean we will necessarily warm to every word that comes from their lips. Christians often sincerely — but prayerfully — disagree with those who share their faith.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the omnipotent muscle of God.”
We have to ponder this question: if all Christians had diligently fulfilled this command from St Paul and been faithful in praying for our leaders, then would our world be different today?
Can our heartfelt prayers make a difference in this broken, hurting world? We most certainly believe they can…
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