I have talked about prayer in my last two posts, specifically for whom we should pray and what it takes for us to be able to pray for all people. If you haven’t read those two posts, I encourage you to do so. Today I’m going to end the series by providing motivation to pray.
Why Should We Pray for All Peoples, Including Our Leaders?
Paul tells us in 1st Timothy 2 that we should pray for all people’s including our leaders in order:
“that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,” (1 Ti 2:2–3)
In other words, Paul wants us to pray for all people’s including kings and all those who are in charge so that we can lead a life that is free from turbulence, uproars, and persecution.
Why this Type of Life?
The reason he wants us to lead that type of life is not just so we can be comfortable. Certainly being comfortable is a benefit. But if you know anything about Paul, you know he is all about the spread of the gospel. He knows that if we live in a persecution free society, the gospel will be spread more easily.
Our Experience
Think about America as opposed to North Korea or China. We are free to live out our faith and share the gospel with others. The worst thing we have to worry about is someone giving us a dirty look or saying something unkind, or maybe losing our job, but that is few and far between. We don’t, however, have to worry about the police showing up at our front door to arrest us, or being prosecuted and sentenced to death for our beliefs. We are free for the most part to share our faith.
What we are experiencing now is exactly what Paul longed to see — a society where Christians could live and share their faith freely, so that others would know the hope we have and come to faith in Christ. If you think about it, the freedom we have in the United States has led to many people coming to Christ.
So you can see why Paul tells us to pray for all peoples. It’s not just so we can be comfortable, but so the gospel can be freely advanced for the glory of God.
What We Should Want and Do
If you want to see the gospel advanced for the glory of God, and you should if you are a Christian, then pray for all peoples, including those in leadership. Pray God would work in their lives to change their heart so that they come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Pray also that they would see the benefit of living and directing society according to biblical principles.
The cultural war we are fighting in our country right now isn’t going to be won on Facebook or Twitter, it’s going to be won on our knees in prayer.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t try to influence our friends and family with arguments and reason, we should. We, however, must know that arguments, reason, and posts alone won’t do the job. Only the work of the Holy Spirit turning the hearts of man will. So pray and continue to pray for all peoples!
Question for Reflection
- Are you taking advantage of your freedom to share the gospel with others so that they might be saved?
- Are you continuing to pray for our leaders, so that our society remains free and the gospel is able to be freely spread?
Resources
Post adapted from my sermon For Whom Should We Pray and Why?