3 Reasons Why We Need to Pray for Our Leaders

"I cannot pray for them because I don't like them."

"Their values don't align with mine and so I cannot pray for them"

And all I say to that is that these people have obviously not read their B-I-B-L-E.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  - 1 Timothy 2:1-4

I see more people complain about leadership than pray for them ! Read the verse above very carefully again : we are supposed to pray for all men. Jesus even told us to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. So why shouldn't we pray for the people that sit and make decisions that ultimately affect our everyday lives ? 

Why pray for them ?

• When we fail to pray for them, the quiet and peaceable lives we want to live will not be possible no matter how much we whine
• The verse we just read above says that this is good and acceptable in the sight of God. So guess what ? It's actually disobedience NOT to pray.
• Ephesians 6 says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. A lot of political issues are actually spiritual issues that need to be dealt with spiritually - with intense prayer

How do we pray for them ? Here are 3 major ways you could begin praying for the leaders of your country.

• Pray that God will help them to make godly decisions. Yes, we do have leadership sometimes that are not godly but the Word of God says that the heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord and God moves it in whichever way He pleases. If we do not pray that the decisions made in our governments are godly, we can expect ungodliness to run rampant.
• Pray for wisdom for leadership. Without wisdom, a country can be governed right into a hole, where a hole can refer to anything ranging from a financial meltdown to raging war.
• Pray that the leadership will not be selfish and detached from the needs of common people. I'm from a part of the world where the president can own assets worth billions of dollars and yet the man down the street will still be left to starve to death. That's an extreme example of selfishness in leaders and unless we pray, leaders will continue to be selfish and detached.

I could go on and on but you get the picture. I want you to think of it this way : if you ever feel the urge to complain about the people in government concerning a particular issue, turn that complaint into a prayer instead. 

Does this mean we as believers need not get involved in speaking on political issues ? I don't think so. I believe you can make your concerns known using the right channels and with the right language however, the talking and activism needs to be accompanied with A LOT OF PRAYER.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving !!

God bless you.

Gertrude.