“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior…” (1 Timothy 2:1-3 NIV)
Being a person who is seeking to take the spiritual counsel of Scripture seriously, I’ve wrestled with how to practice Paul’s urgent advice to Timothy: Pray for kings (or presidents) and all those in authority. Why? So that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. It’s good, and God likes this.
Here’s what I’ve done. I took time a number of years back to make a list of those with government roles that affected me: national, state and local leaders. Since many of them were unfamiliar to me, I found pictures of them as well. I created a page that helps me pray for these men and women over the course of two weeks.
Who are these leaders?
- National: President, Vice President, The Cabinet, Key Senate and House leaders, my senators and representatives and the Supreme Court justices.
- State: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State senator and assemblyperson, and a few other key leaders.
- Local: Mayor and city council.
You can download a Word version of my intercession journal page here. Maybe it would give you a start on your own. I’m grateful for a way to practice this particularly good piece of counsel from Paul.
