Why we fail to pray for our governments.

Why we fail to pray for our governments. If you are like me, you probably struggle to pray for the government of your country. And the reasons can range from it never occurred to you that it is a command from the Lord. To what is the point as we cannot detect any change visible or otherwise after we pray. I have often wondered if I should be doing something more productive with my time. This is purely a reflection of my dissatisfction with the government as opposed to my belief in God’s abilities.

Praying for government is a command

Do you believe it is a command that we have been given? As I said in the paragraph above, I am discouraged by the low yield in results? Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior,  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. So believe me when I tell you it is expected of us to pray for the government.

Believe that change is possible

Now I don’t know where I got this idea from. But as I reflect on the little to no effort that I put into praying for the government. I have come to accept that deep down I don’t believe my prayers will bring about real and lasting change. And I have to work on that. I guess it is hard to believe that the people in government hear God. Because if they already did, then I wouldn’t need to pray about it. If they paid attention to the laws which are pro the citizen then we would have hope that when we pray and God speaks, they would hear Him.

Focus on God the one who can

I plan to continually remind myself that the focus should be on God the one who can. I should focus on who I am praying to and not the government I am praying about. If God can bring about the salvation of man surely He can answer the simple prayer of good governance. And then again Jesus said God is the God of the impossible. God Himself told Abraham is anything too hard for the Lord, speaking about Himself.

Ultimately do I believe that God listens and hears prayers over governments especially governments that have gone rogue.