People in our church had a big disappointment in this last election. We prayed. We showed up at City Council meetings. We spoke. Yet, when the votes were counted, all the godly candidates we supported for office were wiped out. Despite these losses, our response must not be despair, but prayer—not withdrawal, but intercession: “first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. . .” (1 Tim. 2:1). This must be our default position. Even as we witness our foundations crumble before our eyes, God is not surprised or absent. He’s taught us to pray for our civil magistrates and for laws that honor Him—so let’s keep praying! 

People in our church had a big disappointment in this last election. We have prayed prayers for a Christian city and a Christian nation. We recognize there's no authority except from God, that the authorities that exist are appointed by God, says Romans 13. So what happened was The people that we prayed would be elected in our local elections and our national elections didn't, like they were wiped out. What should we do?

The response of the church is not despair, it's prayer. It's not withdrawal, it's intercession. The Bible makes it really clear that government is never neutral. And it shouldn't be a game where they make up their own rules because the government exists to promote the public good and there's no greater public good than the truth of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ that he is the King of Kings and if he is King then Kings they will answer to him. Thankfully, our forefathers understood this.

They built a nation of laws, many of those laws on the back of confessions of faith, on the authority of scripture, and the fear of God. So, in our local community, we're watching those foundations crumble right before our eyes. But God is not crumbling, God is not absent, God is not surprised. He has given us a command. We know what we should do.

This is our default position. First of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. We're not here to rage and we're not here to retreat. We are here to believe and to pray for repentance, for revival, for the names of our civil magistrates, for laws that honor God, for a nation that fears the Lord. So let's just keep striving together in prayer for our city, for our state, for our nation.

We've been taught to pray and we need to just keep praying, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture Applied is a production of Church and Family Life. Visit churchandfamilylife.com for more resources.