“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-4)
Will you notice with me that God’s first directive, through Paul’s letter to Timothy, to the church gathered, is prayer; prayer of every type. “First of all . . .” He might have said, “Above everything else, when you come together, pray!” For you see, it’s the same directive!
The next part tells who to pray for . . . “for all men.” This aligns with the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:13 as He quotes from Isaiah 56:7 . . . “Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”
Then He becomes more specific in our praying . . . “for kings, and for all in authority.” This will include presidents, senators, congressmen, judges, governors, mayor, etc.
And He includes our reason, purpose, and motivation . . . “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
Does this not sound like what our forefathers may have had in mind when they wrote the Constitution of the United States of America?
Then, with these words that follow, ” . . . for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” . . . we are assured that it is within God’s will that we might enjoy a good and godly government! —And, the ultimate reason is that our Father desires “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
Our problem is, based on my many years of working with churches in prayer ministry, most professing believers never give serious thought to the discipline of prayer . . . much less to the praying for the government.
Beloved, soon we will elect basically a new government. Much may be accomplished in the ballot booth, but first, the real work must take place in the “prayer booth.” I trust you are Praying the Vote. God can still do much here, if we will do much there. Come on Church, Pray On!
