1 Timothy 2:1-3 (MSG) 1 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. 2 Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. 3 This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
I’m vacillating between being thoroughly entertained and disgusted with everything about the 2016 Presidential race. 1 Timothy 3:1 calls me back from these emotional extremes and simply says, “The first thing I want you to do is pray.” But how should I pray? Here’s 3 suggestions.
- Pray with gratitude in your heart.
If you think we have it bad remember, the first emperor during St. Paul’s lifetime was Caesar Augustus, who died in the year 14 AD when St. Paul would have been about twenty years old. Augustus was succeeded by Tiberius who reigned until the year 37 AD—just four years after the death of Jesus. He was followed by Caligula, whose short reign was followed by Claudius, who was succeeded by Nero, and it was during the persecution of the Christians by Nero that St. Paul was martyred in Rome around the year 65 AD. Tiberius was a decadent, cruel, spoiled, lustful, disease ridden pedophile. Caligula was even worse. A violent, extravagant, incestuous maniac, he was eventually assassinated. His uncle Claudius was an able administrator, but he was probably murdered by his wife to make sure his nephew, Nero came to the throne. Nero competed with Caligula for the trophy of the most insane, sadistic, decadent and extravagant of the Roman Emperors.
- Pray with grace in your attitude.
These politicians are in a no-win situation with the American electorate and the American media. As a pastor of 40 years I live with a minute taste of public life and the utter impossibility of pleasing a crowd. It can be depressing at best and devastating at worst. Donald Trump is the first candidate we have ever seen who has said, “I’m not going to take it, I’m going to punch back.”
One of the few who ever returned to apologize to me for criticizing and causing division in our church was a guy who ended being an interim pastor for a year somewhere else. He tearfully said to me on our parking lot, “I had no idea what it was like to be a pastor until I had to do it.” Well, no one reading this has ever experienced what it’s like to be a national political leader. I would like to think former Presidents read my post but it’s just you and me in this conversation.
- Pray with Gospel goals in your mind.
Utopia is not going to happen friends, nor should we pray for it. As a serious follower of Christ, I am to have one single obsession and that is the reconnection of God’s separated Children back to him. Social success for serious Christ followers is measured by one metric; how many people can we bring back to God. Let us pray that political leaders will intentionally, or unintentionally open doors for the Gospel.
1 Timothy 2:4 (MSG) He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned:
