Why We Pray - An In Depth Look (Part 1)

PRAYER

Prayer is the essential ingredient of gospel-centered influence. Prayer for leaders is a command given by God to His people. Multiple times throughout the Old Testament, we see men and women of God praying for their leaders. Jeremiah lays out the case to pray for the peace of Babylon, because that’s where the Israelites were headed. Daniel prayed for the kings he served. Esther fasted and prayed for days before she went before the king to influence him. Prayer recognizes that God has the foremost influence, for He holds the heart of the king in His hand (Proverbs 21:1.) Therefore, every believer has a direct line to the King of Kings, who governs the entire world. Even Nebuchadnezzar admitted that the King of Kings, “...rules in the affairs of men.”

So believer, how do you pray for those in authority? Thankfully the Lord has given us a list. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 lays out four ways we can pray for our leaders.

Let’s discuss giving thanks first. Truly, prayer is not only about asking for what we desire. In fact, as we think of prayer and ultimately influencing the heart of God, giving thanks is one of the key elements. It is extremely difficult for the believer to thank God for leaders they don’t like or don’t agree with, yet it is a direct command to thank God for those in authority over us. This command wasn’t given to believers in a time of Christian prosperity, but rather in a time of dictatorship, tyranny, and persecution, and it still holds true today. We are required to give thanks for the leaders God has given us.

Second is intercession. Intercessory prayer is praying on behalf of someone. This certainly should be the case for Christians. Our leaders may in fact, not know how to pray, so we stand in their place and lift them up. There is an old story that one of our retired legislators tells as true - A Democrat and a Republican were walking in the halls of the Statehouse. (Contrary to popular belief, Democrats and Republicans do talk to one another.) The Democrat turned to the Republican and said, “You Republicans wave the banner of Christianity and say that God is on your side...I would bet that you don’t even know the Lord’s Prayer!” The Republican was aghast and replied, “Of course I do!” The Democrat responded, “I bet you $20, that you cannot recite the Lord’s Prayer right now!” The Republican accepted the challenge, and in the halls of the capitol building, he quite piously and reverently bowed his head and commenced reciting the Lord’s Prayer. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” When he was finished, the Democrat looked at him and admitted, “I didn’t think you could do it,” and handed him the money.

While this is a funny story, and not likely true, the fact is that while there are many leaders who are praying believers, there are numerous ones who do not know how to pray, and have not received the gift of Jesus. Thus the primary prayer for legislators does not concern legislation, but salvation. This is real intercession.

Third is prayer. Prayer is petition. It’s much more than simply asking for what we want, though. Prayer is communication. It is the telephone line between us and God. We talk to Him and He responds through His Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Communicating through prayer centers us on what is truly important.

When we pray for those in authority, we are actually giving a gift to them. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men.” As we think of influence, we naturally think of giving a gift. This is often done on a carnal level. “Mr. Worldy-wise” will tell you to gain influence by giving money and gifts and similar material wealth. Although we, as believers, shun bribery, there is a principle of gift-giving in Scripture that is healthy. If we want a seat at the table of influence, at the “city gates”, or at the city council meeting, for example, we have a far more powerful gift to give - the good news of Jesus (the Gospel). Again we want to influence them for the cause of the gospel, so the first thing we do is to take time out of our schedule to pray for them. This is a tremendous gift of time and effort, and this gift is providing people of prayer around the world a seat at the table of influence.

Last is Supplication. Supplication has the implication of begging or earnestly beseeching. As we think of begging God, certainly on behalf of our nation, we remember the example of Nehemiah who begged God to work on his nation’s behalf.

These four influential types of prayer make a nice acronym: Thanksgiving, Intercession, Prayer, and Supplication, or TIPS for “peace and quiet”(I Timothy 2:2.)