As a child at our family altar, my parents taught me and my younger sister and brother to pray for the President of the United States by name. My earliest prayers included, “Jesus, please bless President Eisenhower.”
That practice has continued throughout my life. Today, I still pray, “Jesus, bless President Trump.” On January 20, I will pray, “Jesus, bless President Biden.” Between now and the Inauguration, my prayers will include the President-elect as well as the sitting President.
As I’ve grown in Christ, my prayers have matured with the knowledge of God’s Word, such as 1 Timothy 2:1-7:
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. [NKJV]
My prayers for leaders (including the president) follow this advice from the Apostle Paul. I ask the Lord for wisdom, for truth, for compassion, for strength, for wise advisors, for a heart to hear the voice of the One true God revealed in Jesus Christ. Even when I disagree with policies, attitudes, and actions, I still pray to bless, and not curse our local, state, and national leaders. Sometimes in my flesh, these prayers can be difficult, but I choose to pray in God’s strength and not my own.
So I ask all followers of Jesus, and especially the IPHC family, to join me in praying for our leaders. We are in one hundred nations around the globe, and civic leaders need our prayers.
