Silas
Beloved of All
Your faithful commitment to pray for all people and for all who are in authority is pleasing to God and reflects exactly what Scripture urges in 1 Timothy 2. That passage reminds us to bring petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for everyone, including those who govern and lead, whether we agree with them or not, so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in godliness and dignity. This is good in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth through Jesus Christ alone.
At the heart of your request is a cry for wisdom, and Scripture places wisdom above all earthly treasure. Wisdom is better than rubies, and nothing we might desire can compare to it. Wisdom is not simply more knowledge, but the ability to apply knowledge rightly, and it dwells with prudence and sound judgment. In Proverbs wisdom is pictured as a person calling out in the streets and at the gates, inviting the simple and the foolish to forsake folly and live. That picture points us to Christ himself, for in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The starting place for such wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and to turn from it. When Solomon was given the opportunity to ask for anything, he did not ask for riches or fame or victory over enemies, but for wisdom to lead well, and God was pleased with that request. Because he sought wisdom first, God granted him wisdom and also added what he had not asked for.
There is a great difference between this heavenly wisdom and the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world is earthly, sensual and leads to confusion and strife, and in the end it comes to nothing. The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable and gentle, and it produces a life marked by purity and peace rather than self indulgence. Leaders in every sphere, in the church, in civil government, and in defense, need this kind of wisdom from above. They need humility to know what to say and how to say it, and they need discernment that only God can give, like the insight given to Elisha to know the plans formed in secret and to warn accordingly.
Prayer is the means God has given to bring his will to pass on the earth, not a tool to accomplish our own wishes. It begins with relationship. When through faith in Christ we can truly call God Father, his ear is open to his children. For those who are not yet his, the one prayer he longs to hear is for mercy as a sinner, which establishes that relationship. Prayer then opens the door for God to do what he already desires to do, without violating the freedom he has given to us. As you pray, you can ask with confidence that God hears.
It is right to pray as you have for protection, for loyal and courageous helpers like the mighty men who surrounded David, for angelic guarding according to Psalm 91, and for heavenly help against spiritual opposition. It is right to pray that the hearts of leaders would be like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, that he would direct them, that he would thwart the plans of the wicked and work all things according to the counsel of his will, and that he would work all things together for good for those who love him. Government is ordained by God to preserve what is good and to restrain evil, and when that purpose is abandoned, evil will in time undermine the nation itself. So we pray for godly alliances between free peoples, for the diminishing of evil alignments, for the exposure of false teaching and persecution, and for the preservation of freedom of speech and press, both spoken and written and digital, so that the gospel of Jesus and all he commanded may go forth and make disciples of all nations.
Continue to bring these burdens before the Lord with thanksgiving, putting on the full armor of God and remembering that Christ who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. As you present your requests to God, his peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
At the heart of your request is a cry for wisdom, and Scripture places wisdom above all earthly treasure. Wisdom is better than rubies, and nothing we might desire can compare to it. Wisdom is not simply more knowledge, but the ability to apply knowledge rightly, and it dwells with prudence and sound judgment. In Proverbs wisdom is pictured as a person calling out in the streets and at the gates, inviting the simple and the foolish to forsake folly and live. That picture points us to Christ himself, for in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The starting place for such wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil and to turn from it. When Solomon was given the opportunity to ask for anything, he did not ask for riches or fame or victory over enemies, but for wisdom to lead well, and God was pleased with that request. Because he sought wisdom first, God granted him wisdom and also added what he had not asked for.
There is a great difference between this heavenly wisdom and the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world is earthly, sensual and leads to confusion and strife, and in the end it comes to nothing. The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable and gentle, and it produces a life marked by purity and peace rather than self indulgence. Leaders in every sphere, in the church, in civil government, and in defense, need this kind of wisdom from above. They need humility to know what to say and how to say it, and they need discernment that only God can give, like the insight given to Elisha to know the plans formed in secret and to warn accordingly.
Prayer is the means God has given to bring his will to pass on the earth, not a tool to accomplish our own wishes. It begins with relationship. When through faith in Christ we can truly call God Father, his ear is open to his children. For those who are not yet his, the one prayer he longs to hear is for mercy as a sinner, which establishes that relationship. Prayer then opens the door for God to do what he already desires to do, without violating the freedom he has given to us. As you pray, you can ask with confidence that God hears.
It is right to pray as you have for protection, for loyal and courageous helpers like the mighty men who surrounded David, for angelic guarding according to Psalm 91, and for heavenly help against spiritual opposition. It is right to pray that the hearts of leaders would be like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, that he would direct them, that he would thwart the plans of the wicked and work all things according to the counsel of his will, and that he would work all things together for good for those who love him. Government is ordained by God to preserve what is good and to restrain evil, and when that purpose is abandoned, evil will in time undermine the nation itself. So we pray for godly alliances between free peoples, for the diminishing of evil alignments, for the exposure of false teaching and persecution, and for the preservation of freedom of speech and press, both spoken and written and digital, so that the gospel of Jesus and all he commanded may go forth and make disciples of all nations.
Continue to bring these burdens before the Lord with thanksgiving, putting on the full armor of God and remembering that Christ who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. As you present your requests to God, his peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
