DIANE SINGER —

“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.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Struggling to Pray

How do you pray for leaders whose beliefs and policies you disagree with?

In November 2009, I wrote an article for the Colson Center entitled “Dear Mr. President” in which I promised to pray for President Obama — even though I didn’t vote for him and I disagreed with many of his political stances. In my mind, praying for the president is not an option, but an imperative. It’s something we are commanded to do so the people in our nation “may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” At least, that’s what praying for our leaders is supposed to accomplish in the long run — even if (and especially if) currently peace and quiet elude us.

However, six years later, I must confess that praying for this particular president has become something of an ordeal. Whenever I see our president on television, I am filled with the most negative emotions — emotions which seem “right” because of my disagreements, but emotions I know are “wrong” because they teeter on the edge of personal hatred — a sin which violates all sorts of “love and pray for your enemies” admonitions.

Therefore, I probably spend as much time confessing my bad attitude toward him as I do uttering actual petitions on his behalf. I want to obey the Lord in this area, but I find it difficult because I find myself so utterly opposed to so many of his policies.

Interceding for the President

So what options do people with my political and social positions have when it comes to praying for President Obama?

First, we can pray for his spiritual state. The President claims to be a Christian, but Jesus Himself said that not everyone who calls Him “Lord, Lord” has a place in His kingdom. And, we know that not every Christian has a Biblically formed worldview. This is true of many Christians, but the greater influence one has, the greater the consequence of their worldview. We cannot look inside someone’s soul to see if he has a deep and genuine love for Jesus Christ. We can only discern from what we see him do (even more than what he says, especially when we are dealing with politicians) if we are to avoid following false messiahs and false prophets. (Matthew 7:15, 16, 21)

If we’re wrong about the President’s spiritual state, then there’s no harm done in uttering such a prayer. However, if we’re right — then our prayers for him might make an eternal difference. We can ask God to lift the veil that currently blinds him to spiritual reality, to penetrate his heart with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to lead him to repentance, and to lead him to trust in Christ as His personal Savior. (Acts 16:30-31; 2 Corinthians 3:14-16)

I may dislike the man’s policies and leadership, but that doesn’t diminish my concern for his soul. He is someone made in the image of God; he is someone for whom Jesus Christ died. And since God does not desire for anyone to perish, I believe every Christian is obligated to pray for people — including our president. (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)

Second, to the degree that Mr. Obama condones and promotes sin, lawlessness, and evil (that which mocks and opposes God’s will, purpose, and design), I believe we must pray for God to thwart him. The Bible, especially the Psalms, are filled with imprecatory prayers in which believers ask God to judge the actions of the wicked and to make them give an account for their hostility toward God and toward His people. (Psalm 10:15) The purpose of such prayers may be punitive or it may be corrective, as in Psalm 83:16: “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.”

My fondest desire is to see our president wake up to the lies undergirding a worldview I consider unbiblical. I pray that he will come to know the Truth of God’s Word — for not only will he be set free from a destructive belief system, but he may yet have time to reverse some of its worst effects upon this nation. And, miracle of miracles, he could even become the catalyst for leading our nation back to God. With God, nothing is impossible. (Matthew 19:26)

Finally, I believe that we are to “pray the opposite” for Mr. Obama — a concept I learned from Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India for more than 55 years. She once wrote that when you find yourself being critical of someone else, pray the opposite. So, when I hear the president voice his support for the murderous actions of Planned Parenthood, I pray for him to value a culture of life, rather than a culture of death. I pray that he will take up the defender’s mantle and work with Congress to outlaw abortion-on-demand and end this heinous national sin.

When he speaks glowingly of his support for same-sex marriage, I pray for him to instead promote the only form of marriage that is best for adults and children (one man, one woman, for life). Finally, when I hear him snidely refer to people like me — those of us who happen to like our Bibles and our guns — I pray that he will fulfill his oath of office to uphold the Constitution, a document which protects our religious freedom and our right to bear arms.

There are other ways to pray for our president and I hope anyone reading this article will sincerely seek God’s will in this matter. We should all, in Oswald Chamber’s words, “rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray.” (My Utmost for His Highest, March 30) What’s most important is that we persist in praying for him, for in that way we will demonstrate our love for God and our love for a neighbor, a neighbor who just happens to also be our president.

Adapted from: Praying for the President, by Diane Singer, Colsoncenter.org, September 7, 2015 — Reprinted with permission.