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That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, the President of the United States, and all others in authority, that they may do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. That it may please thee to make wars to cease in all the world; to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord; and to bestow freedom upon all peoples, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

2 Timothy 2:1-3, 8 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… 8 Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.

I have had a few jobs over the years that had me travel quite a bit. I have visited every county in the State of Georgia and nearly all in Tennessee. As I traveled I always tried to find the best down-home diner, meat-and-three-with-good-sweet-tea place I could. I found some classics. Some served amazing breakfasts, others did magic with fried chicken, and a few smoked the best bar-b-que west of Memphis. There are a few places where if you say their name to me, I will stand up and place my hand over my heart and thank God again for that long remembered meal and Crestor – my daily statin.

I learned to be a connoisseur of catfish and corn cakes, gravy and grits (actually I dislike grits – but I sampled a few). Yet besides the food, these little food joints told me all about the local community, the real politics of America and reminded me how special this nation is. Sadly though, when it came to listening to the chatter and banter about me, if it wasn’t about football or the weather, the noise was usually about a lot of complaining and some downright “dog-cussin” about the political leaders of the day, be it the local mayor, the governor, Congress, and of course the current President of the USA. There would be a lot of angry fists pounding the tables and very few Holy hands lifted in prayer. Thankfully you could always redirect the conversation by asking loudly if the fish were biting.

I think we need to be reminded that we don’t pray for our leaders enough, if at all. We are told that we need to pray that those in power “lead well”, not for them to drop dead. We pray for them so that we may live simply, be at peace, humbly learn from Jesus and quietly go about our business. However, what is the “business” we are to be about ? As believers we are to be about a lot more than living day to day, we are called to live as God’s people and be about God’s business, which is this:

We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you 2 Corinthians 5:20 (The Message)

To be a good ambassador, an effective emissary and a successful representative, it helps that we do this in peace, with open “embassies”*, in harmony and freedom, so always pray for these. Remember also we are to be making disciples as we earn our dollars. Lastly remember that God our Father, who dresses the lilies and feeds the sparrows will always take care of us.

Peace, and prayers.

Phil Parsons

*The first act of war is to recall your Ambassador and close your embassy. How many times have we done this in our Churches and with our witness ?

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From Rodger:

3rd paragraph, 2nd sentence?  Guilty as charged.