James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
It seems like a cliché, in a series that gives rationale for doing something as good as praying for our leaders, to remind us all of God’s perspective if we fail to do so. Yet, it is important to remember that the only alternative to obedience is disobedience.
God’s command to pray for all in authority is good. The results of doing so that include living quiet and peaceable lives is good. The contingent promises of II Chronicles 7:14 are good. Seeing all men saved is good. Having leaders come to the knowledge of the truth is good.
We know the good, and the choice is ours whether to obey or to disobey.
Excuses abound for not praying for our nation and its leaders. They are as simple as a dislike of population groups as Jonah had for the Ninevites. They are as insidious as a lack of trust that this nation will ever return to the Lord, at best a lack of faith in God’s people to follow the precursors of the contingent promises in II Chronicles 7:14 and at worst a lack of faith in God Himself. They are as plain as a disrespect for a particular leader. They are as insidious as a belief that God has no plan for widespread revival in America, at best a worthless personal theory and at worst a presumptuous prophesy. They are as straightforward as basic pessimism. They are as insidious as a deeply rooted negativity, at best an infectious force to those around us and at worst a self-fulfilling deterrence to prayer. Regardless of the excuse, God sees it as sin.
PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TAKE SERIOUSLY GOD’S COMMANDS TO PRAY FOR OUR NATION AND ITS LEADERS. We must not fool ourselves into thinking that the alternative is anything other than sin.
