Friday, 21 August 2009
-
Praying for Authorities: A Command for Christians
Christians are to submit to authorities (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-16), honor the king (1 Peter 2:17), and pray for the authorities (1Timothy 2:1-2). Other activities mentioned under these categories are respecting those in power, obeying the law (unless it conflicts with obeying Christ), and paying due revenue as well as mandatory taxes. These are the civic responsibilities of the Christian person according to scripture.
1 Timothy 2:1-8
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases G-D our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one G-D and one mediator between G-D and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time... I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
Here is a healthy example of what prayer for authorities looks like:
…Thou, O Ruler, has given them the power of government through thy majesty and unutterable might so that we acknowledge the honor and dignity given to them by thee, may be subject to them without opposing thy will in anything. Grant to them, O Lord, health, peace, concord, and firmness so that they may administer without offense the government which thou hast given them! Or thou, O heavenly ruler, king of the ages, hast given to the children of men glory and dignity and authority over the things which are on earth. Do thou, O Lord, direct their counsels according to that which is good and pleasing in thy sight so that they may with reverence exercise the authority Though has granted hem, peacefully and benevolently, without violence, and thus obtain thy mercy.
- First Letter of Clement 61.
My hope is that we will not pray for our personal ideals of health care, foreign policy, marriage restrictions, and taxation to come about but that G-D’s kingdom may come and His will be done here on Earth (and where we live) just as it is in heaven. May we be conformed to the kingdom and our authorities live up to their purpose as laid out by our Father to bless those who do good, punish the wicked, and bring about justice.
As we ready ourselves to pray may we embrace the difficult mantra "...not my will, but yours be done" (especially when we think we are right).Have you ever prayed for your authorities? Do you think it's important to do so?
-
recommend
- recs 1
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (6)
I think you're right on here.
We can certainly pray for God to guide our nation into making decisions that would honor him.... but I think what you said is most important, "thy will be done".
Good post
Yes, I pray for the government, no I don't ever pray for my will to be done, but God's. This is a good post, and solid teaching for those who claim to belong to Christ.
Why not also pray for Church authority? After all it was Jesus who set up the Church. The leader of the Church is the Pope. Why not pray for him?
Protestants won't because according to this post they only recognize and pray for secular authorities. Far be it from a Protestant to accept the notion of Church authority even though it's written about as plain as day in Scripture.
Why not pray for the Church and leaders to whom Jesus gave his total authority? After all, we don't want another Borga taking over the Holy See!
I hope what you mean here is not that we shouldn't pray for political and social issues like health care, foreign policy, etc, but that we shouldn't automatically assume that our own personal understanding of the issue and our opinion is the same as God's, that we should pray for justice and good to be done in every one of these areas and more, even if our personal ideas about them are wrong and true justice looks different than we expected.
Like I hate having to sit down and pray for individuals, but I love this idea of praying for authorities. Because its hard to be responsible for other people's life. I don't want to pray for people to be a certain way or to do a certain thing. I want them to organically do what is in the heart, ecclesiasties style, and I want my authorities to have the freedom and space to think about what is right and how to rule. So if I am prayin for anyone, friend or authority or loved one...I will carry an object. Its like a string around my finger reminder, but there is nothing specific. Its me saying, "Here's hopin G-d has our back, friend." I don't know if this is right or wrong. I'm guessin' it's pretty childish, and I wish I could form prayers for other people better. There are times I have prayed for a person to do this or that, but I always think if it is Your will G-d, and theirs. Only when a person agrees with G-d and feels comfortable with something am I okay of even askin G-d for it. So since, I don't know when someone feels comfortable with something, I don't know what is okay to ask G-d about them or for them. I might pray someone becomes a successful doctor and then learn they were pressured into a major they weren't sure they wanted. So I will light a candle for someone special on Sabbath so G-d will ask him or her if they are okay and remember them. And so that he or she will remember G-d, and be protected from all kinds of harm. How do other people feel about this? Is it okay to pray for anyone with any specific intention? Or is it only okay to pray with intention for yourself?
I pray that the authorities would submit to Christ or be removed from office. It's called imprecatory prayer.