“It is repulsive [to God and man] for [governmental leaders] to behave wickedly,
For a throne is established on righteousness (right standing with God).”
(Proverbs 16:12 AMP, alt.)
Quick Quiz:
- How many Senators and Representatives are in the U.S. Congress?
- How many total state legislators are in the U.S.?
- How many cities and towns are there in the U.S.?
- How many libraries are in the U.S.?
- How many public school districts are in the U.S.?
Quiz Answers:
In the U.S. there are
- 535 Senators and Representatives in the U.S. Congress
- 7383 state legislators
- 19,495 incorporated cities, towns and villages
- 16,000 libraries
- more than 98,000 public schools
Take a moment to think about how, in greater or lesser ways, all these influence our society. How much impact does a local school board have on the education and, therefore, futures of young people? How much influence does a township zoning board have on the way you use and take care of your property? How does your district representative to either your state or federal House of Representatives help to make laws that impact your daily life? The Mountain of Government – including federal, state, county, and local governments is huge, sprawling, and can certainly impact our lives.
What does the Word of God say about law and government?
“The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.” (Isaiah 22:5, 6, 22 NIV)
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…” (1 Corinthians 14:33 NLT)
These passages are rich with relevant points.
- God wants to fill our world with justice and righteousness.
- He is our sure foundation, salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
- God is our judge, who gives us his law.
- God does not want disorder but peace.
God put into place governmental systems and even rulers and authorities over us. But God will have NOTHING to do with corrupt rulers who pass laws to empower evil and defeat what is right.
What happens to a society when its civic leaders are actively working against God’s plans for righteousness? If you look around our nation today, you will probably see examples of unrighteous leaders and the result of their actions. We must pray, educate ourselves, and then influence the world around us with the Light of Christ and God’s righteousness.
What if every school board – every county board – every library board – every state and federal legislature seat was filled with Word-filled and Spirit-guided Jesus-followers? How could our world look different?
King of Kings, Lord of Lords,
You are exalted, for you dwell on high, filling your people with justice and righteousness. You are the sure foundation for our times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge. You are our Judge, Lawgiver, King and the One who will save us. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, we thank you that you are in control of all aspects of our civic lives. You are our true tower of strength, our safe place, our hideout, and our true shelter when the world seems crazy. You call us to be obedient, ready for every good work, speaking evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. So we pray that your love may abound in us more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
We know that when we do not speak or act against the face of evil, our silence is in itself evil and you will not hold us guiltless. Forgive us for our inattention, our apathy, our disappointment and discouragement, and our general lack of prayer for our governments. Help us to discern, pray, speak, and act from a pure heart – to overcome evil with Good – with the intention of standing up for your goodness and grace in our society. Your Word calls us to submit to the governing authorities that you have appointed, but also calls us to have nothing to do with corrupt rulers who pass laws that empower evil and defeat what is right. You gave to our citizens the choice of our rulers and we recognize that it is the duty, as well as the privilege, of our nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. Yet, so many of our elected and appointed leaders seem so far from Christ. So, in this day and time when evil seems to have won so much, we declare NO MORE to the wicked people and ideas currently controlling much of our governments. We know that their evil plans and plots will eventually boomerang back onto them and seal their own doom.
We pray in the name of Jesus that you would set people around those in authority to witness your Truth and Righteousness to them. Set their minds on you and your ideas, not the ideas of the flesh or the enemy, so that they are not hostile to, but can submit to God. In the meantime, we pray you would thwart all the enemy’s plans for harm of this nation in any level of government. Your wisdom is profound, your power is vast; you move mountains of evil without their knowing it and overturn them in your anger.
And where there are godly, Spirit-led political leaders, help us to submit with joy to their authority, knowing that they will have to give an account to you for the decisions they make. Help us to live in peace with everyone and to be holy. Today we pray for godly city council members, school board members, county commissioners, judges at all levels, state house and federal representatives and senators, state Attorney Generals, Secretaries of State, Lieutenant Governors, Governors, the President and Vice President of the U.S., their Cabinet and other officers. We pray that those filling these positions will be men and women whose hearts and minds are surrendered to you, Jesus Christ, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who have character that reflects the heart of Christ, and who are diligent in Bible study and prayer. We pray for righteous leaders to be raised up in our nation who will honor God and His ways. All this we pray in the strong name of Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen!