Pray for Our Leaders
Western Christianity seems to have a love-hate relationship with politics and politicians.
At one end of the spectrum we have those who think Christians should rule the nation according to God’s standards. At the other end are those who don’t like God’s people having any involvement whatsoever with secular government.
Elijah and Elisha lived through the reigns of six of Israel’s kings – Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz and Jehoash. None of these kings showed a consistent heart desire for Yahweh but yet Elijah and Elisha were involved in some way with each.
Prophets like Elijah and Elisha saw nothing of the difficulty many see today. It is true that there were times when they refused to speak to the king but there were also instances of the prophet instructing the king when that king consistently chose a godless path (2 Kings 13:10-19).
Billy Graham took enormous criticism each time he associated with an American President, and he has had some association with eleven successive Presidents – Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Bush (Snr.), Reagan, Bush (Jnr.) and Clinton.
Association does not mean endorsement. We should not only know who governs us but be prayerful for them. Too often their “failure in office” reflects our “failure in prayer.”
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