This Thanksgiving season, it seems that I’m praying a lot.
I’m giving thanks for a job, for friends, for family. I’m actually giving thanks for the 20 extra pounds I’m carrying, a sign that I live in the land of plenty. I’m giving thanks for blessings seen and unseen.
And I’m also praying for others. I have family members who are far away from God, hanging all my desires on a peg named hope. I am praying for my employer, for the business to succeed and for the books to balance. I pray for my boss – and his boss. I’m praying because Scripture tells me too – and it honestly relieves me of worry. Once I pray, it’s in God’s hands.
This passage is screaming out to me this season:
“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.” — 1 Tim. 2:1-3
So that leads me to a prayer of thanks for Donald Trump, our president-elect. If the numbers are right, and these words reach a cross section of voters, about half of you voted for him and the other half voted against him. It was the same for President Obama and Bush before him.
Regardless of how you voted, Christians who live by the book have no choice but to pray for “kings and all who are in authority.”
We are to give thanks, as well as “intercessions, prayers, and supplications.”
That means praying for your bad boss – and even giving thanks . That means praying for your city councilman, your state legislator, your Congressman and yes, your president – outgoing and incoming.
The outcome of prayer, as presented in Timothy, is simple. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
Paul likely wrote these words from prison, shackles to his feet slapped on by a corrupted and evil authority. He was brought before the magistrates, before the Roman courts and the Jewish authorities. He was stoned by a mob and no one intervened. He was beaten by rods, whipped, imprisoned, starved and exiled. He was mocked,
And still, he could utter these words. “We were persecuted, but not deserted by God. We are struck down, but not destroyed,” and then “When we are reviled, we bless; When we are persecuted, we endure.”
I wished another viable option would have been presented to us other than the two major party candidates. I hate that Thanksgiving tables, workplaces and families are still sowing discord because of an election.
But if I want to please God, then I will lead a life of praying for those I agree with and those I disagree with.
You and I, we can lead the way – and pray.
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