Praying for our Leaders

by Tara Wentworth

 

I had a rather unpleasant experience the other day when someone came to my home for a visit.  Our conversation went a number of different directions before the person said some very derogatory things about our new president-elect.  I made the comment that we needed to pray for him, that he has a monumental task ahead of him and he will certainly need our prayers.  I was absolutely amazed at how angry this person became, saying, they would never pray for him.  I then added fuel to the fire, quoting a scripture verse that says we are to pray for kings (presidents) and for all those who are in authority over us. (I Timothy 2:2 – which also has a promise “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.”)

No matter what your party/political affiliation may be, no matter how much or how little you agree or disagree with our new president-elect, we are exhorted, as believers to pray.  I personally believe part of the reason this country is in such turmoil, is the lack of concerted prayer for our leaders.

As I think about the many examples in the scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament, where believers found themselves under an ungodly government and they honored those leaders in whatever way they could without contradicting their conscience or the commandments of God.  Some of them were used by God to demonstrate the greatness and the superiority of our God over their so-called gods.  Moses, Nehemiah, Elijah, Joseph, Daniel, just to name a few, had opportunities to bring honor and glory to their God under heathen rulers.  Remember the three friends of Daniel, who addressed a heathen king with great respect, while speaking truth and thereby jeopardizing their lives by refusing to bow to a false god.  Their God rescued them out of a fiery furnace that actually killed those who placed them in the furnace.   The Apostle Paul had an audience with several important leaders of his time, and he respectfully exhorted them to embrace the truths for which he was being imprisoned.

I believe now, more than ever, we must pray for all of our leaders – local, state and national.  We are in perilous times and no man has the wisdom to lead us out of the predicament we find ourselves in as a country.  We need divine intervention and wisdom which will come if we humble ourselves and pray and turn from our wayward ways (2 Chronicles 7:14).  Numerous times in the scriptures God used heathen kings to fulfill His purposes.  He prophesied of a heathen king, Cyrus, by name, some 400 years before he was even born (Isaiah 45).  In 2 Chronicles 36:23 Cyrus acknowledges the one true God and states that God commanded him to build Him a temple in Jerusalem!  Queen Esther, a peasant Jewess, was chosen to marry a heathen king.  God used her to intervene on behalf of her people, turning the heart of the king, to overrule his decree to kill all the Jews and gave them an opportunity to defend themselves.

Proverbs 21:1 states “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”   So, as we pray for our leaders, we can expect God to intervene on our behalf.  This country has been a bastion of truth in the past.  Most of our founding fathers were strong believers in Almighty God and based our government upon godly principles.  That is why we have been so blessed as a country.   Pray, so that you and your children and their children can continue to live in relative peace in the midst of a world that is filled with turmoil. 

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