Mind Your Prayer Language
Are you praying for President Obama (while secretly hoping he will fail)? The majority of evangelical Americans did not vote for Barack Obama to be president. He knows that. But all Christians know they should pray for him (see 1 Tim. 2:1-2). Paul’s admonition came when Caesar was emperor. We aren’t required to agree with our leaders; but we must pray for them. The question is, when we pray for President Obama, do we merely say, “Lord, I commit him to you”��"avoiding any prayer for blessing? Or do we perfunctorily pray that God will bless him but hope God won’t? When Jesus said love and pray for your enemies, He didn’t mean that we merely say, “Lord, I commit them to You.” He told us to go beyond just praying for them; we are to love them, sincerely asking God to bless them (see Matt. 5:44). Do we hope Obama will fail? Do our political and theological views exempt us from blessing him? Pharisees in Jesus’ day loved their theology more than people.