The Bible and Christian Prayer for Leaders

¶ … Christians, it is our duty to pray for others. Christians are also Biblically obliged to pray even for those who appear to be beyond saving, or for the unlikeliest of souls. "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people," (1 Timothy 2:1). Therefore, praying on behalf of world leaders becomes even more of a Christian imperative given the tremendous influence political leaders have on the people who they lead or rule. Over the course of the last year or more, I have made a conscientious attempt to pray for a set of world leaders who either needed guidance, support, and intervention from God, salvation from a sinful path, or strength as they traversed the difficult and challenging path of Christ.

Although I did pray for more than a dozen world leaders, I focused on the President of the United States, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, the Pope Francis, Assad of Syria, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and Angela Merkel. Although not all of these world leaders share the same faith or even believe in the teachings of Christ, praying for them proves that we can "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength," (Deuteronomy 6:5). The most important factor when praying for others in an intercessory or distant way is to remember that even through our differences in belief and worldview, we are united spiritually. Our differences prompt us to strengthen our commitment to Christ and to recall His righteousness, for it has been written, "Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so," (Hebrews 13:8-9).

Praying for world leaders reminds us of the values that we all share as human beings. Above all, we seek harmony. The Bible teaches us how to "live in harmony with one another," (Romans 12:16). Harmony can begin with prayer, we create an emotional and spiritual bond with others even if we are from different cultures and have different worldviews. Beneath it all, we seek the same core ideals. One of the most salient of those ideals is liberation from sin and the corresponding quality of mercy or grace. Jesus did not necessarily seek homogeneity, but rather, recognized the universal need for liberation from sin: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one," (John 17:15). I therefore prayed that leaders like Assad, Putin, and Trump would reckon with the notion of evil while they do what they believe is right for their own people. It is extremely difficult to pray for leaders who have values different from our own, and whose people have far different values and goals than ours. This reminds me to remain humble and respectful of diversity. As we are taught to live in harmony, "Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (Romans 12:16).