Tuesday Prayer: 49

This is my 49th 'Tuesday Prayer' post. As we come towards the year of prayer quotes and ideas on this blog (broadly when we hit Week 52, though of course its taken longer than an actual year) it struck me that it is hard to pray for the things we feel we can't change, or are disconnected from.

It is no secret that the UK has a General Election coming up, and I've been hosting a great series on this blog about Politics, interviewing a range of people about why they, as Christians, support various political parties. But why bother? I was struck again this week by the opening words of 1 Timothy 2. In his instructions on worship, Paul writes;

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth..."

1 Timothy 2:1-4. A powerful challenge, straight from the words of Scripture, for Christians to pray for politics. This is a call to pray for leaders, for Presidents, for Prime Ministers, for MP's, for members of the House of Lords. For foreign governments, for power structures and the people who inhabit them, all over the world. 

And the reason we are called to do this is clear.

We are not called to pray for politicians to change the world.

We are not called to pray for politicians in order to have our way.

We are not called to pray for politicians so that our denomination becomes the state or preferred church.

We are not called to pray for politicians so that our personal agendas advance.

The challenge of this text is rather different. We are to pray, to engage in prayer, because it is 'good', and it pleases God. That is our highest priority - and as an overflow of it, we pray for politicians. This is a God who saves - every kind of person, even politicians and corrupt bureaucrats, priests and leaders - and this is the God whom we are talking with when we pray for politicians.

These words challenge us to pray for those in power. Grounded in a sense of God's nature as Saviour and the goodness of how he makes things be. Well, at least, thats what I think. What do you think? Do let me know in the comments.

___________________

Don't forget to check out the previous posts in the series, featuring quotes from Tom Wright, John Wimber, Richard Foster and Don Carson, the great J. C. Ryle and theologians Alister McGrath and James K. A. Smith. Since then, I've shared quotes from Justin Welby, E.M. Bounds, Vineyard Pastor Ken Wilson, C. S. Lewis,  Norwegian O'Hallesby, Paul Miller, John Piper. Recently, we've heard Matthew Henry, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray, Tim Chester, Vaughan Roberts, Oliver O'Donovan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and John Bunyan. Then we got rather retro, with quotes from Church Fathers John Chrysostom and Tertullian, before returning to more recent thinkers with Rowan Williams, Mike Reeves and Peter Jackson and Chris Wright and Andrew Case, R. C. Sproul, and (representing a slight change of tack) the Westminster Confession. Recently we considered Karl Barth, and Donald Macleod, Mary Prokes,  J. C. Ryle (again!), Andrew Murray,  Martyn Lloyd Jones, Hudson Taylor, recently about Ffald-y-Brenin,  some of my own words, and my friend Nick Parish, Joyce Huggett. More recently I've shared a prayer of remembrance from the C of E, some of the words of Paul, an Anglican Prayer for Advent, Peter Lewis, Tim Keller, and most recently my friend Robin Ham, and the Book of Common Prayer...