I don’t doubt that this election is important. Relatively speaking they all are important. However, I’m suggesting that we align our expectations with how the Bible teaches us to pray. We have been greatly blessed in the United States for many, many years. Evangelicals have enjoyed tremendous influence in society. Now, however, things appear to be changing. Is this a cause for concern? Sure. But is it a cause for panic? No.

Here in the United States our news is dominated by the Presidential election cycle and as a result, we are inundated with up to the minute analysis of debates, rallies, interviews, editorials, and tweets. Many have observed that this is a particularly important election. I happen to agree with them while also noting that the same thing is said every four years. It is always important.

Without minimizing the importance of the election or impugning anyone who is a political junkie, I want to offer a gentile reminder for Christians who might be getting a little too wrapped up in the election. Call it a gentle calibration.

Who to Pray for

The first place we as Christians should turn is prayer when we consider the functioning of our government and its relationship to the church. This is modeled by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy. Giving instruction to Timothy he says that we as believers must pray for all people, “for kings and all who are in high positions…” (1 Tim. 2.2).

This seems pretty straightforward and simple until we consider the context. John Stott observes,

“when Paul told Timothy to pray for kings, the reigning emperor was Nero, whose vanity, cruelty and hostility to the Christian faith were widely known. The persecution of the church, spasmodic at first, was soon to become systematic, and Christians were understandably apprehensive. Yet they had recourse to prayer. Indeed, prayer for pagan countries and their leaders already had a precedent in the Old Testament. For Jeremiah told the exiles to pray for Babylon’s peace and prosperity, and the edict of Cyrus, which ordered the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, included a request to the Jews to ‘pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.’”

The government was far from sympathetic to Christianity, yet Paul (like Peter 1 Pet. 2.17) urges submission and honor to and prayer for the government.

I understand that the skid marks from the moral revolution are fresh. That car is racing ahead with little regard for Christ and his church. America and the rest of the world are changing very quickly. However, let’s not think for a second that Paul is living in the midst of nice little Bible belt in the Roman Empire. It was progressive, pagan, and decidedly anti-Christian. The decades that follows Paul’s writing to Timothy are dark. In other words, if the priority was prayer then it most certainly is today.

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