I have been contemplating what I am writing about, in this post for a week, and finally put it in words.If we truly desire to be the woman God has created us to be and be shaped into the person He wants, I believe we will put this following scripture into practice more and more over the next months and years.
"The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
"He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned; that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us - Jesus...
"Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray - not shaking angry fists as enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God...doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it." 1 Tim. 2:1-10 The Message
If you read my posts you know I like to quote from The Message most of the time. It just tells it so great. This passage of scripture came to mind last Wed. after our election of President.
Whether our choice for President was elected or not doesn't matter at this point...what matters is...
Are we praying for our elected leaders?
Paul doesn't tell us to only pray when our candidate is elected. He admonishes us to pray for ALL those elected. It is our duty as believers to lift those in authority up in prayer.
Part of leaving a legacy for others to follow is a good example of this scripture and others like it. We are to treat those in authority with respect, whether we agree with them or not. We should not bad mouth them. We should not criticize. We should keep them in our prayers, asking God to help direct the leaders ruling over us.
As we begin our week, ask ourselves the question,
"Am I praying for my leaders?"
"What kind of words come out of my mouth regarding my leaders?"
"Am I leaving a good example for those around me to follow?"
It is always so much harder to pray for someone when we disagree with what they stand for, but this is an awesome opportunity for each of us to show our "true spiritual colors" to those around us who know we don't agree. Allow positive words to come out of your mouth, ie "You know, I may not agree with our leader, but he/she is in my prayers, because they have an overwhelming responsibility to lead our country."
By doing this Paul says we can become beautiful, according to the above scripture.
I hope you receive this and allow God's spirit to continue to form you into His image. Until next time...
Blessings to You!
4 comments:
I thank you for your post. I have really been turned off by the response of Christians since the election. I have always felt that we are to respect those placed in authority and our job is to pray for them. We serve God, not man.
It hurt my heart even back in the 90's to hear people mock President Clinton (who I swore was the anti-christ! lol) Regardless of how I feel about a leader, I will still respect and pray for them and I expect my brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same.
I hate hearing hurtful things about Barak and his family. We are supposed to answer to a higher authority.
Thanks for your thought provoking post!
~Sharon~
A Hoosier Family- http://hoosierfamily06.blogspot.com
Assembly of God Blogs- http://assemblyofgodblogs.blogspot.com
You are so right. For those of us who were praying intently before the election, we do not stop now. We must pray for our leaders. Pray for America to repent and to allow Jesus back into our daily lives!
Bless you,
Carolyn
You are so right. For those of us who were praying intently before the election, we do not stop now. We must pray for our leaders. Pray for America to repent and to allow Jesus back into our daily lives!
Bless you,
Carolyn
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