Sermon Central
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Pray For Our President And America
Contributed by Jerry Flury on Oct 18, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: The Bible teaches that in the last days before Christ’s return our world would become perilous. It is during times like these that we need to become people of prayer. The call to prayer for our leaders and our nation is clear from the pages of God’s Word
PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT AND AMERICA
I Timothy 2:1-4 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
INTRODUCTION: The Bible teaches that in the last days before Christ’s return our world would go topsy-turvy and become perilous. This is a perfect description of the time in which we are now living. It is during times like these that we need to become people of prayer – prayer warriors. We are to pray for our needs and the church’s needs but our prayers are to extend far beyond the walls of our church. The call to prayer for our leaders and our nation is clear from the pages of God’s Word.
I. WE ARE TO BE INTERCESSORS FOR ALL MEN.
A. “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”
B. Four Kinds of Prayers that we are called to offer on behalf of others.
1. Supplications – focusing upon specific special deep and intense needs of others and carrying that need to God with a sense of urgency.
2. Prayers – set times or seasons of prayer when we pray for others in general
3. Intercessions – standing in the gap before God on behalf of others seeking God’s mercy and grace for others.
4. Thanksgiving – thanking God for hearing our prayers of faith in anticipation of what He is going to do in the life of others and gratitude for what He has done in the past.
C. Ezekiel 22:30 "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."
D. Karl Barth said, “To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” [Prayer. Christianity Today, Vol. 34, no. 4]
II. WE ARE TO INTERCEDE IN PARTICULAR FOR THOSE IN AUTHORITY.
A. Not only are we to pray for all men in general but as our text says we are to pray specifically “for kings, and for all that are in authority” (I Timothy 2:2)
B. What is amazing is that when Paul instructed Timothy to teach the church to pray for kings and political leaders Nero was on the throne in Rome. Nero having burned Rome in 64 A.D. blamed Christian activists for the fire and had embarked on a campaign of brutal persecution against Christians. The thought of praying for them had to be difficult if not repugnant to some.
C. This means we are to pray for them
1. no matter how good or bad they are
2. no matter what political party they belong to (Democrat or Republican)
3. no matter whether they are conservative or liberal
4. no matter how moral or immoral they may be
5. no matter how just or unjust they might be
D. We should pray for those in authority because God put them there.
1. Those in authority are there by the will of God and will remove them as He sees fit to accomplish His ultimate plan.
2. Daniel 2:21 "And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:"
3. Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."
E. We are to realize that the hearts of our leaders are in God’s hands.
1. Proverbs 21:1 "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turns it whither so ever he will."
2. Ezra 6:21-22 "… The children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy. For the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."
III. WE NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR PRESIDENT.
A. George Washington (1732-1799) our first President said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”