Peter Carruthers
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
Prayer is at the heart of every believer’s walk with the Lord. As James Montgomery wrote, prayer is the “soul’s sincere desire … the Christian’s vital breath”.
Prayer is also central to Village Hope’s ministry. Village Hope' traces its origins to a prayer movement, the ‘Friends’ Prayer League’. We have a community of prayer partners who share ministry and prayer needs and pray for each other. Village Hope is a founding member of the Hope Countryside partnership, which aims to inform and mobilise prayer for rural Britain.
A frequent theme of Hope Countryside’s prayer letter, Seeds of Prayer, and its gatherings, is prayer for those who shape rural society and economy through policy, regulation, and legislation, ie for ‘those in authority’.1
But how exactly should we pray for our government and other civil authorities, and for society and nation? And what does the Bible tell us about our relationship to society and government, and how does this shape our prayers? It is very easy to come before the Lord with a ‘shopping list’ of our concerns and ask Him to fix them all. But we are to pray in accordance with His will and not ours; to advance His purposes and not our desires.
Christians are enjoined to be good citizens, to be 'subject to the governing authorities' (which receive their authority from God) (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17) ), pay taxes (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:6), and do good to all (Galatians 6:10). In particular, we are to pray for those in authority so that “we live a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
In Paul's understanding, this social stability is good for both society's well-being and the proclamation of the gospel (1 Timothy 2:3-4). In its priestly role, the Church is to represent and intercede for the state before God, and exercise a caring, fatherly role, mindful of people's, even leaders', frailty and weakness.
There are, of course, limits to obedience to the state, which can become an enemy of Church. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). As D A Carson comments, “when the state tells us to defy or disown God”, we must reject its authority; Christianity's allegiance to the state is always “contingent, conditional, partial”.
The Church is not only priestly, but also prophetic, and there are times when its calling is to represent God before the State, to declare His words, to defend His laws, to exhort and rebuke, even it means getting stoned or sawn in two!
Praying for the leaders of our nation and society is nevertheless paramount. (Just now, I imagine many will be praying for King Charles following his cancer diagnosis, and, by association, for the good governance of our nation.) But it is not always easy, both to persevere and to know exactly how to pray for governments and nations. In his book, 'Secrets of a Prayer Warrior' (2009, Derek Prince Ministries), Derek Prince offers some insights on 1 Timothy 2:1-4, which may help.
Prince sees Paul's 'first of all' not as signifying the first thing he wants to say, but as defining the "first great activity" of a local congregation. The priority for a group of believers meeting together is to offer "supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving thanks", in other words to pray.
The purpose of believers gathering together (and the Lord is present wherever two or three gather together in His name - Matthew 18:20) is to reflect the purpose of the Temple as a "house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17). This defines both the primacy of prayer when we meet together and its essential first focus.
Paul emphasises this point by prioritising prayer, not for missionaries, evangelists, pastors, vicars, or even the sick, but rather for "kings and for all who are in authority", ie in modern phraseology, for the government.
There is a purpose to this. Paul urges us to pray for those in authority in order "that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence". Derek Prince interprets this as meaning that we are to pray that the "government will do its job properly"; in others words, "we are to pray for good government". Good government, he says, "provides a framework, a situation of law and order and administration, in which each one of us can go about our daily life and business meeting a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence".
Finally, good government is "good acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour", because it creates the conditions within which the truth of the gospel can be proclaimed to everyone everywhere and people can "be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth". The goal of praying for leaders is ultimately for the furtherance of the Gospel, and the making of disciples.
The story of Rees Howells and his associates at the Bible College of Wales during WW2 provides a vivid illustration of the last point. As Norman Grubb writes in his biography of Howells,2 their priority was to intercede “on a national and international level concerning anything that affected world evangelisation. Every creature must hear; therefore, the doors must be kept open. Their prayers became strategic. They must face and fight the enemy wherever he was opposing freedom to evangelise.” This understanding was a foundation of their prayers during WW2.
Prince concludes by suggesting two possible reasons why we may have less than good government. First, it is because professing Christians are simply just not praying or showing any concern. Second, it is because we pray, but without knowing the will of God. As above, the Bible provides clear principles for the latter, but understanding how these apply in our specific times and circumstances is central to the prophetic task and calling - there may, after all, be times when the Lord instructs us ‘not to pray for this people’ as He did Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:16).
This brief commentary on 1 Timothy 2:1-4 does not of course provide all the answers! But I hope it's enough to encourage us to persevere (Luke 18:1-8; Thessalonians 5:17) and not to lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:1; Hebrews 12:3) or become weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9).
O LORD, our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings, Lord of lords, the only Ruler of princes, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth: Most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our most gracious Sovereign Lord, King CHARLES; and so replenish him with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that he may alway incline to thy will, and walk in thy way. Endue him plenteously with heavenly gifts; grant him in health and wealth long to live; strengthen him that he may vanquish and overcome all his enemies; and finally after this life he may attain everlasting joy and felicity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, Prayer for the King’s Majesty.)
MOST gracious God, we humbly beseech thee, as for this Kingdom in general, so especially for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and gracious King at this time assembled: That thou wouldest be pleased to direct and prosper all their consultations to the advancement of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign and his Dominions; that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. These and all other necessaries, for them, for us, and thy whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, Prayer for the High Court of Parliament.)
There is a Hope Countryside online meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 7 February, at 7.30 PM (login here), and an in-person gathering in the North East on Saturday 2 March (more details and sign-up here).