PRAY FOR YOUR LEADERS?
Pastor Charles Cooley
5/6/08

Paul exhorts Timothy to pray for all those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1, 2) but, the question is - what should we pray? The proper prayer will result in our peaceful and quiet lives, so it is important that we pray the proper prayers. We know we should ask for their salvation, because God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9). But, should we always pray that they are successful in their plans? If they choose to believe a lie, should we pray for their success? No, I think not. I think we should pray for their deliverance from deception and for the failure of plans that will ultimately bring their and our hurt. And Paul teaches that sometimes we should even pray that they be turned over to the devil, so they will turn and be saved.

Both Psalms and Proverbs speak about the wise and prudent man who sees trouble coming and hides himself while the foolish man passes on and is punished. Probably all of us have had disagreements with the policies of our leaders from time to time, but occasionally those policies, if carried out, will bring great harm to us and our nation. On those occasions, I believe we should be praying against those policies. An example is President George Bush's Road Map for Peace plan in which he is pressuring Israel to give up God-given land for the sake of a false peace. This policy is wrong according to the Bible, which clearly warns of great harm upon those who divide His land (Israel).

"I will enter into judgment against them concerning My inheritance, My people Israel, for they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land." (Joel 3:2)

In the past, every nation that has tried to partition the land of Israel has come to disaster. The city of Jerusalem has been given a special position by God.

"This is what the LORD says: I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain." (Zechariah 8:3)

But, before this happens men who reject God's plans will be judged and how they treat Israel and Jerusalem will be the point of testing.

"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding people reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immoveable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." (Zechariah 12:2-3)

Secretary of State Rice recently accused Israel of blocking peace progress with the Palestinians. Should I pray for her success? No, rather I will pray that she will be delivered from the deception she is under. When the Palestinians have not lived up to any agreements they have made in the past and when they are constantly firing rockets into the nation of Israel and when their TV constantly preaches the destruction of Israel, to demand that Israel make peace with the Palestinians is more than deception, it is delusion!

Our President has made much about the 'war on terror', but should we be having a war on terror? We need to evaluate terror from a cause and effect setting. We can fight terror, but we will never have victory over it until we shut down the cause of it. Islam is the cause of the terror we are facing. Islam's goal is to rule the world. It does not matter to them whether they accomplish this through terror, finance, education, or population growth. Where do the terrorist get the money to make their bombs? It comes from the money we give to so-called 'moderate' Islamic nations. Last year we sent over $400 billion dollars to Islamic countries for just oil alone. This does not take into account all the other money we give in the form of economic aid. We are spending billions in Iraq and Afghanistan and what are we getting for it? Breeding grounds for terrorists. As soon as our money dries up, they will hate us and our Christian religion. Saudi Arabians and other Islamic peoples come to this country and they want us to recognize their rights of religion, etc., but do they recognize our right of religion in their country? The answer is a big NO! Why? It is because they don't want to co-exist with us, they want to subdue us!

Our President says Christians and Moslems serve the same God, but Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God. How can we expect God's favor on us when we compare Him to an antichrist religion? The apostle John teaches that if any deny the father and the Son, that is the spirit of antichrist. (1 John 2:22). To pray for his success in this lie would be to deny God and that I cannot do. I will pray rather that his lies be exposed and that his eyes be opened to the truth.

Our leaders tell us that we don't have to worry about Iran getting nuclear weapons and that we have time to talk them out of their programs. But, both Israeli and British intelligence have now confirmed they can have a nuclear weapon as early as the end of the year. (see http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=15859, and Iran to have nukes soon ). Yet we continue trading with them and allowing their schools to operate in the U.S..

Should we pray for our leaders? Yes, they need it, but pray they will hunger and thirst after truth. Pray they will first and foremost confess Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Pray that they will lead us back to the faith of our forefathers. Pray that any of them who refuse to bow their knee to God Almighty will be removed from office and that their understanding will be enlightened by the declaration of Jesus - "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).