How the New Testament says to Pray for Government

Prayer not just against bad things, but for good things

The most obvious passage regarding prayer for government is found in 1 Timothy 2:1,2 when Paul says the “first” priority in prayer should be “for kings and all who are in authority.” The end goal of such prayer was that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” This implies that good government is essential for this outcome.

Although politics is not the central theme of the New Testament, there is still much in it regarding government, law and justice. And when Jesus taught how to pray He said to pray “Thy Kingdom come...on earth...” To those at that time, the word “kingdom” simply meant “government” to them. Monarchy was the only type of government in that era and usually oppressive. The message of Jesus was truly good news to people because it meant that a new supreme government under God’s control was coming to this world, not just in heaven. Nothing could be more encouraging to hear. People who live under injustice long for change. It is true today as much as it was true back then.

So Jesus made the first priority of our prayer life to ask for a better government. How do we pray for that? Jesus gave us some essentials on that topic.

In Luke 22:25,26, Jesus when He said the way that Gentiles govern was wrong and in Matthew 22:21 that there should be a limit on what people give to Caesar, i.e. the State. This was a radical message at that time when totalitarian human governments (such as Rome) asserted that there were no limits to their powers. In America today there is an increasing problem with government overreach. So that should be a constant prayer focus for us again – for limits on state power.

Jesus also told His disciples to resist government tyranny (Lk 10:10,11) which they did frequently in the Acts narrative. The New Testament believers would challenge corruption, saying “No” (Acts 16:37) to those in power and appealing through the courts for justice (Acts 22-26). This resulted in many people suffering beatings, imprisonment and execution, or they fled to safer locations. This then is another important prayer focus: For Godly citizens to resist abuse of power.

The book of Acts highlights when government leaders were won over, such as the Ethiopian official (Acts 8), the proconsul in Cyprus (Acts 13), the judge in Athens (Acts 17).  It also shows that a few went into government to “overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21) by being “ministers of God” (Rom 13:4) in government positions. Erastus was elected in Corinth to serve in local government (Rom 16:23). This then is a third important prayer focus: For better leaders to emerge in government.

Another misunderstood word today is “church.” When Jesus spoke of it, He used the Greek word “ecclesia” which was well understood at that time to mean only one thing: a political citizen assembly. It had no religious meaning at all at that time. Paraphrasing Matthew 16, Jesus declared that He would “build My citizen assembly” which would permit or prohibit activity on earth in alignment with the supreme government. More than ever we need for the true ecclesia to rise up in our nation, to pray, but also lead.

Seven Good Things to PRAY AND PROCLAIM Over Your Nation

Besides the above focus of prayer, there are essential principles and conduct that need to grow in society in order for a nation to be healthy and blessed. It is often common to pray against bad things we see happening, but even if we were able to stop those things Jesus made it clear that unless we fill that void with something better, the bad things will come back even stronger (Matt 12:43-45). We identify seven major areas below that we should ask God to increase in our nation. (more detail on each is in our subscriber section below)

1.       Self-government

2.       Voluntary unity

3.       Individuality/

4.      Property

5.       Education

6.      Morality

7.       Faith in God & in His Word