Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer for those who hold authority reflects what Scripture itself commands, to offer petitions and thanksgiving for rulers and all in high positions so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives and so that more people may come to know salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
What you are asking for them above all is wisdom, and that is the right request. Wisdom is the principal thing. It is more valuable than rubies or wealth or anything else we might desire, and nothing we long for can compare with it. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and to turn from it. That fear is the starting place, and it leads to understanding. Wisdom dwells with prudence and finds knowledge and discretion. She cries out openly, inviting everyone to come and receive. Her ways are pleasant and her paths are peace. Length of days is in one hand and riches and honor in the other, and she gives life and is a defense to those who have her. All of this is ultimately found in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
This is why your emphasis on the Word is so important. You prayed that rulers would be guided by the Word of God, writing it on their hearts and seeking its counsel, and that they would be surrounded by wise counselors. Scripture says there is safety in a multitude of counselors. When leaders listen to the Word and to godly counsel, they are seeking the wisdom that comes from above. That wisdom is peaceable. It sows peace and reaps a harvest of righteousness. It brings peace with God first, through the grace offered in Christ, where though sins are as scarlet they can be made white as snow, and then it makes peace with others possible.
The wisdom of the world is very different. Apart from God, even the highest human wisdom is foolish. Those who profess themselves to be wise apart from God become fools. That kind of wisdom leads to strife and wars and inner turmoil, and in the end it comes to nothing. History shows how the great ideas of men without God fail and fade. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world, and faith is not to rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
You also prayed rightly about the purpose of government. God ordained governing authority to preserve what is good and to restrain evil. When government serves itself or promotes what is evil, something is deeply wrong. Your prayer that God would overrule and restrain evil, expose deception and falsehood, intercept evil plans as He did for the prophet Elisha, and protect leaders from the evil one is biblical. Jesus prayed that His people would be kept from the evil one, and we are promised that the Lord is faithful and will guard us, and that He gives His angels charge over His people. It is also right to pray that those who are false or corrupt would be turned from and, according to God's will, replaced, while asking that leaders would be kept from sin and not led into temptation but delivered from evil.
There are no perfect rulers, as you acknowledged. Our ultimate hope is not in any human administration but in the coming kingdom of God and the return of Jesus Christ. Until then we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, we trust Him with all our hearts rather than leaning on our own understanding, and we continue steadfastly in prayer. As we bring these requests with thanksgiving, the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
What you are asking for them above all is wisdom, and that is the right request. Wisdom is the principal thing. It is more valuable than rubies or wealth or anything else we might desire, and nothing we long for can compare with it. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and to turn from it. That fear is the starting place, and it leads to understanding. Wisdom dwells with prudence and finds knowledge and discretion. She cries out openly, inviting everyone to come and receive. Her ways are pleasant and her paths are peace. Length of days is in one hand and riches and honor in the other, and she gives life and is a defense to those who have her. All of this is ultimately found in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
This is why your emphasis on the Word is so important. You prayed that rulers would be guided by the Word of God, writing it on their hearts and seeking its counsel, and that they would be surrounded by wise counselors. Scripture says there is safety in a multitude of counselors. When leaders listen to the Word and to godly counsel, they are seeking the wisdom that comes from above. That wisdom is peaceable. It sows peace and reaps a harvest of righteousness. It brings peace with God first, through the grace offered in Christ, where though sins are as scarlet they can be made white as snow, and then it makes peace with others possible.
The wisdom of the world is very different. Apart from God, even the highest human wisdom is foolish. Those who profess themselves to be wise apart from God become fools. That kind of wisdom leads to strife and wars and inner turmoil, and in the end it comes to nothing. History shows how the great ideas of men without God fail and fade. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world, and faith is not to rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
You also prayed rightly about the purpose of government. God ordained governing authority to preserve what is good and to restrain evil. When government serves itself or promotes what is evil, something is deeply wrong. Your prayer that God would overrule and restrain evil, expose deception and falsehood, intercept evil plans as He did for the prophet Elisha, and protect leaders from the evil one is biblical. Jesus prayed that His people would be kept from the evil one, and we are promised that the Lord is faithful and will guard us, and that He gives His angels charge over His people. It is also right to pray that those who are false or corrupt would be turned from and, according to God's will, replaced, while asking that leaders would be kept from sin and not led into temptation but delivered from evil.
There are no perfect rulers, as you acknowledged. Our ultimate hope is not in any human administration but in the coming kingdom of God and the return of Jesus Christ. Until then we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, we trust Him with all our hearts rather than leaning on our own understanding, and we continue steadfastly in prayer. As we bring these requests with thanksgiving, the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
