I serve as a chaplain at the county jail. Regularly the inmates ask for prayer Can you guess what the number one prayer request is? They want me to pray for them to get out of jail.

Sometimes I visit people in the hospitals. They ask for prayer so they can be healed.

Yesterday when I got out of the car at the church building I heard someone say “Hey pastor!” I barely turned off the engine of my car. I didn’t see anyone in the parking lot. He must have pulled in immediately afterwards. Turns out he wanted some money, and he wanted me to pray for him. So I asked, “How do you want me to pray for you?” He looked stunned. Then he looked like he was thinking of a possible topic for prayer. Then he answered, “My finances and my relationships!” I think he was up to something else.

Nevertheless, how would you want people to pray for you? For things to go well? For you to have good health? To be protected from harm? For everyone to like you? For spiritual growth? For fruitfulness in your life? For encouragement? For your financial needs to be met? For a job that meets your needs? For close friends? For success and prosperity? Wow, this list is easy to rattle off. There are a bunch of ways for people to pray for you!

Now for a harder group to pray for. What about government leaders - both the ones who hold to our convictions and the ones who oppose our beliefs. When Paul wrote to pastor Timothy, he said, First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-2). So how do we do this? How do we pray for even the leaders who do not share our convictions?

I think I found a clue in the Bible. Jesus said, In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Oh, so all I have to do is figure out how I would want people to pray for me if I were in office. I guess another way would be to go up a couple of paragraphs and see the list of ways we might want others to pray for us, and I could use that as a start.

I heard years ago that business leaders in communist countries would secretly hire Christians to do work for them, because they knew they would do the best work. Even some of the government leaders would show secret favoritism for Christians, because believers worked the hardest to make their bosses succeed. Consequently many leaders have become Christians, not because the believers yelled at them, but because they loved their bosses and demonstrated the character of Christ.

God works through our leaders - all of our leaders, for He has said, The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. May we all cry out to God that our leaders seek the Lord with all of their hearts, that they will be bold to uphold God’s standards, that they would have a genuine love for people, that they would be wise, and that they would seek the Lord’s will for every decision. Oh wow, there are so many other great ways to pray for our leaders! May God receive all the glory for the work he does in their lives!

October  29, 2018

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