One year ago, God began to turn our world on its head as He started to speak about His heart for our government in Washington, D.C. After five years of serving as missionaries in California, God uprooted us and sent us to our nation’s capitol with the burden to pray for our government. While we had been praying generally for America and revival for years, it was clear that God was getting our attention in an extremely specific way to begin to intercede for the leaders of our nation.
Since President Trump began his race, the political rhetoric and fiercely charged emotion surrounding politics, both in and outside the Church, has escalated to staggering heights. We are all familiar with 1 Timothy 2: 1-3 which says,
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
Paul charges us to pray first for those who are in authority in our nation. Whether we like it or not, God does not side with a particular political party nor does He hold us responsible to criticize the government. What He does hold us responsible to is humbling ourselves and praying for our nation and for our governmental leaders before anything else. Derek Prince says, “So long as they fail to pray, Christians have no right to criticize.” When we choose to pray, we are engaging the battle where it really exists, in the spiritual realm.
While this may not be easy, it is His remedy to the greatest issues we face in our nation today. Spiritual victory is the primary need. By using the weapons of our warfare and winning the war in the heavens, its outcome will be manifested in the area of the natural and material realm. When a righteous God begins to act on behalf of the prayers of His people, He will humble men, shift hearts, impact thought processes, and influence decisions. We will find men and women in government surrendering their lives to Him, those elected to office seeking His wisdom, laws being created that align with God’s Kingdom, and the ripple effect of good government allowing us to live quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and reverence.
Living in Washington, D.C., we have seen firsthand the vitriol that is spewed at the leaders of our nation. We have seen men and women vote and make decisions on Capitol Hill that grieve the heart of God. We have seen the sway of party lines and political loyalties win the day versus what is right. Yet we have also seen congressmen and women who sincerely seek God and ask for His wisdom as they steward their positions. We have seen staff members who work for godly and ungodly leaders lay down their lives to serve like Christ and pray fiercely for their bosses. And we have seen God move in numerous little ways among the hearts, lives, and decisions made in each branch of our government. He is at work and we have seen specific answers to prayer.
There is much work in prayer to be done in Washington, D.C. There will be upcoming Supreme Court seats that we believe God would like to fill with those after His own heart. There are mid-term elections that open the door for godly men and women to fill seats in Congress. There are staff and intern positions that open frequently, with the potential to be filled by those who love God and use their position to pray for their leaders. And there are those who are called to vocational ministry specifically to pray for America, President Trump, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Would you join the heart of God and join us in prayer for these leaders that we could win the war in the heavens and see His Kingdom come to transform our government and send revival to America?
