Praying for Leaders

   Many people come to Washington, DC, every four years for the inauguration of the President.  They don't attend the concert.  They don't have tickets to the swearing in.  They don't line the parade route.  When asked, they are not pro-Republican or pro-Democrat.  They are pro-Jesus and they are here to pray. Some come before the election and are back again before the inauguration. Others just come once. They may be here a few days or a week.
  You may find them walking around the White House, the Capitol, or the Supreme Court buildings, heads bowed, arms raised. These people don't make the news.  What they do is not exciting or glamorous.  Instead they are often  cold and wet, even bedraggled.
  Paul spoke of this very type of prayer in his exhortation to Timothy (! Timothy 2:1-4).  We should note that we are to pray for our leaders.  We are not to pray against them nor at them.  Our prayers should not be a veiled message of what we think they should do.  We are to pray "intercessions and thanksgivings" for them.  Why?  So that we "may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity", and because God wants "everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
  Whether we are called to pray in DC or to pray from where we are, let us remember to pray for our leaders, for their salvation and for them to know the truth.  Let us do so with thanksgiving no matter how we voted.
  For Reflection:  If our new year's resolutions have fallen by the wayside, perhaps a good resolution would be to pray for one member of government each day.
  Let us pray.  Lord Jesus, I thank you for all of our elected leaders at the federal, state and local level.  If they don't know you, I ask that you send someone to tell them about you and to introduce them to the good news of salvation.  I thank you for their hard work, their giving of themselves, their time, their lives.  Grant them wisdom to govern as you yourself would.  Help them to enact just laws and to keep our land at peace.
  I also thank you, Jesus, for those who have been upholding our government in prayer for many years.  Give them the strength and determination to continue.

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