Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”
The king’s heart is worth our prayer because it is in the Lord’s hand. As the Lord wills, so goes the heart of even those who are rich and powerful. The Chaplain of the Senate in the 1940s, Peter Marshall, recognized that our prayers should focus on the godliness of our most powerful leaders:
“We pray, Lord Jesus, for our President. We are deeply concerned that he may know the will of God, and that he may have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it. Deliver him, we pray, from all selfish consideration. Lift him above the claims of politics. Fill him with the Spirit of God that shall make him fearless to seek, to know, to do the right. Save him from the friends who, in the name of politics or even friendship, would persuade him from that holy path. Strengthen and empower his advisors. Bring them, too, to their knees in prayer. May their example and influence spread, that we, in these United States, may yet have a government of men who know Thee, the Almighty God, as their Friend, and who place Thy will first in their lives as well as in their prayers.”
Marshall’s prayer provides a wonderful reminder of the things we should pray about for our most powerful leaders. We should pray for their salvation, their knowledge of the will of God, and their determination to follow that same will. We should pray for our leaders to embody selflessness, higher purpose, courage, and discernment. We should pray the same for those around them. Only as the king’s heart turns whithersoever God wills it through our intercessory prayers can we expect to return to an America governed by Christian leaders who recognize the Lord’s preeminence in all our affairs.
Regardless of our alignment with our leaders, we should pray for them as Peter Marshall prayed. In fact, the less we align with them and the more we think they are following an errant path, the more we should pray for them. For those we oppose, we must recognize that a change of their heart is as simple for the Lord as a flick of the wrist.
PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR LEADERS WOULD GET SAVED AND FAITHFULLY FOLLOW THE WILL OF GOD. Our prayers, to the Lord that holds the leader’s heart in His hand, may return our nation to a government of men who know the Lord and who faithfully follow Him. Such an end is certainly worth our time in prayer.
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