Articles
Pray For Our Leaders
Pray For Our Leaders
Paul says,
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. 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).
Paul does not urge the church to pray, “that we will elect leaders who will make righteous decisions in accordance with God’s word,” a prayer that I have heard many times. Now, I’m not suggesting this is a bad prayer. The Proverbs assure us that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (14:34). Having God-fearing leaders would certainly be a blessing. Surely, it seems wise to exercise our rights to speak out on moral issues and to vote, so long as we possess them.
But this passage does not encourage Christians to make enacting political change our mission, whether by agitation or by prayer. The overall message of the Bible is to submit to whatever government authorities happen to be in power, since they are agents of the will of God (Romans 13:1-4). This doesn’t mean that these rulers recognize the God who gave them power (see Exo. 9:12, Isa. 10:5-8, 45:1-6, Dan. 4:12, John 19:10). There were many political problems in Paul’s day—from immoral rulers to ungodly laws to societal ills such as slavery—that Paul said nothing about, except that Christians should accept things which are beyond our control and keep on serving Christ (1 Cor. 7:21-23). It is not lost on the Apostle Paul that the very Roman government for which he is urging fervent prayer would soon lop off his head!
America is not a Christian nation and never has been. The church is the only Christian nation (Dan. 2:44)! It is true that we Americans currently enjoy a representative republic with a Bill of Rights. Our goal is to use this opportunity for the kingdom of God, not to secure the constitutional rights of our posterity. Our calling is to glorify God despite whatever government we happen to live under—monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, dictatorship. Societies become less and less reasonable. We should prepare for persecution (John 15:18, Acts 4:19-21, Heb. 10:32-39, 1 Peter 4:12-19, Rev. 13:17).
Paul does urge the church in this passage to pray for “all who are in authority,” executive or legislative, local or state or federal, Democrat or Republican. While many Jews harbored resentment and thoughts of rebellion against Rome, this was not the way of Christ. It’s hard to shake your fist at someone you’re praying for!
Paul does urge these prayers be lifted up to God unto a very specific end, “that we [Christians] may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” which in turn allows us to evangelize our communities, since God “desires all men to be saved.” This may refer to the salvation of the pagan rulers, but probably refers to the salvation of their many subjects.
Tertullian wrote around 150AD of the practice of Christians: “We intercede for all the emperors that their lives may be prolonged, their government be secured to them, that their families may be preserved in safety, their senates faithful to them, their armies brave, their people honest, and that the whole empire may be at peace.” Many Christians today would find such a prayer for the present (or future) regime to be distasteful in the extreme! But again, the object of our prayer is not to secure better government, but simply a society at peace, in which the church may freely carry out its mission to evangelize.
It may be that Paul is echoing Jeremiah’s word to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, a civilization they abhorred. Jeremiah said, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare” (29:7). Why pray for the society of pagan idolaters? Because their might and prosperity would provide peace and allow God’s people to thrive.
--John Guzzetta
