Lisa Scheffler, author
To our rulers and governors on the earth…to them, Lord, give health, peace, concord, stability, that they may exercise the authority given to them without offense. For You, O heavenly Lord and King eternal, givest to the sons of men glory and honour and power over the things that are on the earth; do Thou, Lord, direct their counsel according to that which is good and well-pleasing in Your sight, that, devoutly in peace and meekness exercising the power given them by You, they may find You propitious. O Thou, who only has power to do these things and more abundant good with us, we praise You through the High Priest and Guardian of our souls Jesus Christ, through whom be glory and majesty to You both now and from generation to generation and for evermore. Amen.
—Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians
According to early church history, Clement was a leader in the Roman church in the late first century. Even though he likely knew many Christians who had been persecuted and even martyred at the hands of the empire, in a letter he wrote to the Corinthian church, he encouraged believers to pray for their governing authorities — for those leaders to experience good health, peace, harmony, stability, and for them to be guided by God.
Over the last several weeks, we’ve explored the idea of dual citizenship — that while we are citizens of earthly nations, our primary allegiance is to God and his kingdom. This allegiance shapes how we understand our role as citizens and relate to our governing authorities. Because their authority comes from God, we are to respect our leaders and submit to our government, unless it orders us to disobey God.
As people who have been redeemed, reborn, and renewed, we are also called to do good in our communities. As we wrap up this series, we’re going to focus on prayer. How can we, as Clement modeled for us centuries ago, pray for those in authority? Each day this week, we’ll take the opportunity to pray for our government leaders.
Day 1
An unfortunate by-product of living in an advertising saturated age is that many of us have become highly skeptical of big claims. The stain remover that says it can get out any stain, can’t. The miracle weight-loss pill, isn’t. The “new and improved” isn’t all that different.
When it comes to prayer, some us have adopted the same cynical attitude and decided that the claims about prayer in the Bible are simply too good to be true. We may have falsely concluded that prayer is too mysterious to bother with, or we’re not very good at it, or both. As a result, we’re not praying as the Scripture commands.
Maybe our approach to prayer has been all wrong. God is not a genie to be commanded. Prayer is God’s invitation to partner with him in what he’s doing in the world. When we pray as explicitly directed in God’s Word, we can be confident that God not only hears our prayers, but is ready and willing to act.
Our central passage this week comes from 1 Timothy. This is a letter Paul wrote to his co-worker and spiritual son, Timothy who was leading the church at Ephesus. Notice how Paul instructs the church at Ephesus to pray.
Read
1 Timothy 2:1-7
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
What should the church in Ephesus be praying (verses 1–2)?
Why should they be praying this (verses 3–4)?
Reflect
As we’ve seen in our Dual Citizenship series, one of the practical implications of submitting to governing authorities is that it is the most likely avenue to living at peace with one’s government. The apostles encourage compliance unless obeying the government meant disobeying God. This allowed Christians to live “peaceful and quiet lives.”
Yet the apostles had a larger goal. Their primary allegiance was to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the “good news” that they were determined to spread was a royal proclamation that he had come. They wanted everyone to hear this proclamation. The true King was offering every person the opportunity to know him, be redeemed by him, and have a place in his eternal kingdom. “Peaceful and quiet lives” were not the end goal for Christ’s followers, but a means to an end. What the apostles sought were the best conditions for expanding Christ’s kingdom through inviting people to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and follow in his ways.
As we consider this week how to pray for our government leaders, we should keep this end in mind. Our prayers for our leaders should reflect God’s desire to save all people. What would it mean for us to pray for our leaders, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of the gospel? For the sake of helping people find and follow Christ, and loving our neighbors as ourselves?
For the rest of the week we will consider what “petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving” we could be offering for our government authorities. We will focus on different leaders to pray for each day. Commit to spending time each day this week praying for our governing authorities.
Respond
Are you in a regular habit of praying for government leaders? Why or why not?
If you regularly pray for them, what do you pray?
Will you commit to praying for our government leaders every day this week? Who will you start with today?
