Christians must look past this year’s election results and anchor their hope in Jesus Christ, trusting in His sovereign plan and offering prayer and thanksgiving for our country and all of our leaders.
Every two years, Americans head to the polls and wait anxiously for the November election results. In our nation, where politics are deeply partisan and divisive, the side that wins is jubilant, while the other side despairs.
This year’s election results were clearly disappointing to conservative Christians, and political analysts and commentators will spend the coming weeks dissecting how the outcome will reshape Congress and several state governments and assessing the potential impact on policies and people.
Yet for Christians, these election results should propel us not to despair but to prayer.
Prayer is the appropriate response regardless of the political climate, as 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NKJV) guides us:
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Unlike Americans, who have the privilege of voting for candidates, first-century Christians in the Roman Empire and elsewhere had no such opportunities. Political leaders were appointed, no matter how unqualified, incompetent, or corrupt they were. That was particularly true when Paul wrote his first epistle to Timothy.
At the time, the infamous Nero was emperor of the Roman Empire. His tyrannical reign was marked by violence, and his vitriol for Christians was acute. He falsely accused believers of starting the Great Fire of Rome, then used that as justification for state-sponsored persecution of Christians, who were arrested, tortured, and executed in excruciating ways.
Even amid these horrible circumstances, Paul didn’t tell believers to lash out at their oppressors, withdraw from the public sphere, or obsess over regime policies. Instead, he admonished Christians to pray for all rulers — including those who were unjust, cruel, and evil.
We’re called to do the same today. Our response to election results must rise above the tribalism of modern politics. When we either treat political parties and politicians as saviors or predict they’ll destroy the country, we lose sight of God’s sovereignty, as “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Daniel 4:32).
In 1 Timothy 2:1, Paul instructs Christians to offer “supplications, prayers, and intercession.” We can offer supplications to God, asking Him to provide us with leaders who are Christ-centered and seek His will in their leadership. We can pray for our leaders, asking Him to protect them and bless the work of their hands. And we can intercede on behalf of our nation, its leaders, and its citizens, asking God to lead us to repentance and forgive our collective trespasses, in the same way that believers like Daniel, King Hezekiah, and others spoke powerful intercessory prayers on behalf of God’s people.
Paul continues his admonition: “and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). We’re to give thanks to God for all people in positions in authority and to pray for them. Even for evil leaders like Nero, corrupt law enforcement and judges who don’t uphold the law, and others who abuse their privilege. As Paul clearly states, we’re to pray for all men.
It goes against our sinful nature to pray for our enemies, but that’s precisely what Jesus commands us to do, including in Luke 6:27-28: “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” He modeled this radical approach on the cross when He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
The Church has always been under attack, yet its mission remains the same: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
This is the crux of what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. We pray for our leaders so the government will serve its ultimate purpose: to maintain a peaceful, free society that allows the unfettered preaching of the Gospel.
That mission was likely a deep desire of the Apostle Paul, who witnessed his brothers and sisters in Christ being imprisoned and martyred for their faith. It remains crucial today, as fellow believers around the world are being martyred every day for following Christ.
In America, we Christians are not in such dire straits, but we shouldn’t let our comfort and freedom breed complacency. The Constitution enshrines our freedom to worship Christ, but forces are constantly striving to undermine and eliminate this right. We should always be willing to stand against any authority trying to deprive us of this right.
America’s current political challenges are real, as we fight for religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, the unborn, a reassertion of morality, and other important causes. We might get weary from the political whiplash we endure after every election, or frustrated with governments that don’t “fix” all of our problems. However, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and the things we’re facing aren’t unique. The Lord, in His divine providence, allowed the elections to turn out the way they did.
Election results are not where we find our ultimate hope, which is in Jesus Christ alone.
Let us now pivot from criticism to prayer and from complaint to gratitude, asking God to work through our leaders for the sake of the Gospel, because the Lord “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Amanda C. Bauch is an award-winning writer and the editor of numerous bestselling books. Alongside her pastor-husband, she’s raising a son and a daughter in Nashville, Tennessee. You can read more about faith and America in her book, One Nation Under God: 40 Devotions for Patriotic Women.
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