The story has been told of a foreign visitor who was being given a tour of Washington, D.C. by an American friend of hers. She was amazed at the size of the monuments, the buildings, and so forth. Then she gazed upon the U.S. Capital building.

“My, that’s an incredibly large building!” she remarked. “Yes, it’s pretty big, alright.” said her friend. “About how many people work in there?” she asked. Her friend responded, “Oh… about half.”

As Christians, we have the wonderful privilege of going to the throne room of God and lifting up our nation and its leaders to Almighty God.  His Word highlights the importance of doing so. First Timothy 2:1-6 instructs us,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

God’s Word tells us to pray for all people. But God wants to be more specific here:  for kings and all who are in high positions (verse 2). The godless Emperor Nero was on the throne at that time, and yet the Apostle Paul instructed believers to pray for him.

The same applies to us today in 2021.

Hey look, I get it, it’s easy to air our disgust with the current political/cultural rot on social media. It’s easy to muddy Twitter, Facebook and other platforms of our disappointments in our politicians. But what if we took that same energy and brought it before the King of kings?  What if we went to the One Who truly has the power to change things?  What if we went into the Throne room of God and intervened for our leaders?

Please Pray

• Pray for righteousness to prevail. Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”  We need to pray for more leaders who will stand for the sanctity of life. We need to pray for more leaders who will stand for Biblical marriage.  We need to pray for more leaders who will stand for religious liberty. We need more leaders who will stand for righteousness.

• Pray for the leaders who are in office. Pray that they will truly seek the Heart of God as they govern and lead. Ask the Lord to surround them with godly advisors.

• Pray for their salvation. God’s word specifically connects praying for our leaders to their salvation.  “…who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (Verse 4) Can you imagine the radical change we would see if our nation’s leaders got saved and decided to live and breathe for Jesus?

• For those in authority: Once again, we are asking the IFI Prayer team to pray for specific political officials, some of whom have been in office for a long time. Of course, at the top of our list we must pray for the Biden administration on the federal level, and the Pritzker administration on the state level. We also ask you to pray for the following:
  • U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois)
  • U.S. Representative Marie Newman (D-Chicago)
  • U.S. Representative Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro)
  • State Senator Elgie Sims (D-Chicago)
  • State Senator Neil Anderson (R-Moline)
  • State Representative Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park)
  • State Representative LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis)
  • State Representative Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville)
  • State Representative Randy Frese (R-Quincy)
  • YOUR Local County Board President

Is praying for our nation and our political leaders important? You betcha! As Christians we should be the best citizens around. Let’s do our part to see and do God’s will here on earth… as it is in heaven.

Pray for Religious Liberty

• “….for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (Verse 2)
• We should pray for a government and rulers that would simply leave us alone and let us live as Christians so that we don’t become a stumbling block to others as we strive to serve the Lord.

• We should pray for our government leaders that they will govern well and provide Christians a peaceful environment to fully serve the True King.

Pray for Families:

• Student welfare: Government schools are not simply failing to educate students, they are corrupting them morally, spiritually, and, in some cases, harming them physically and mentally. Radical ideologies and lies are being taught to impressionable young children. Children will be sexualized beginning in kindergarten if several sex ed bills and the so-called “Responsible Education for Adolescent and Children’s Health” act become law. Hate, racism and division are being taught in many schools as Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project and BLM activism are promoted. Pray fervently that God would make a way for parents to remove their children from these indoctrination camps.

• Parents and grandparents: Pray that both parents and grandparents would understand the threats to their children and grandchildren. Pay that they would take steps to provide a way for their children and grandchildren to escape the radical extremism in government schools in order to follow Ephesians 6:4b, which exhorts us to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

• Families as salt and light: Pray that families would strive to follow the Deuteronomy 6 model of discipling their children:
  

  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Pray for Police Officers and Law Enforcement Agencies:

• Police officers: Pray for the physical, mental and spiritual protection of the men and women who protect and serve our communities and often rush toward danger. May God use them for good as they face urgent situations and deal with the worst elements of society. Pray that God would give them wisdom and discernment to deal with dangerous situations.

• Families of police officers: Pray for strength for the families of police officers as they deal with the stress of knowing their love one is not only dealing with emergencies throughout the area, but are also targets of left-wing ideologues.

• For justice to prevail: Pray that truth and justice prevail in our land. Pray that myths, lies and incomplete narratives by the media are exposed. Pray that the state’s attorneys, judges and judicial system in general would be serious about upholding law and order. Pray that all of our elected, appointed or hired officials within the judicial branch of government be men and women who are of strong moral character and they are truly knowledgeable of the U.S. Constitution and of the Holy Scriptures. Pray that they are able to make decisions that are fair and just and that they be free from the bribes or the influence of those who seek to corrupt.

“May the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
It is He who changes the times and the periods;
He removes kings and appoints kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men,
And knowledge to people of understanding.
It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.
To You, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
~Daniel 2:20-23~