Today I want to talk to you about those prayer commands that God expects us to fulfill, regardless of who is now in power. We must pray for those in authority as instructed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-3:
“Therefore, first of all, I ask you to make prayers, petitions, supplications, thanksgivings for all people, for kings and for all those in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and serene life in all godliness and purity, for this is good and pleasing to God our Savior...”
In these verses, Paul gives us six prayer commands that God expects us to fulfill. In this passage of Scripture he gives clear principles that we should follow when we pray. Instead of running to God with accusations, complaints, grievances, protests and tears, we should take the constructive approach to prayer that Paul laid out.
RIGHT ATTITUDE
Paul begins with the words: “Therefore, first of all, I urge you to pray.” The word "prayers" is a translation of the Greek deisis, which describes the attitude of a person who entreats a king. The right to appear before the throne of a king was a great privilege in the ancient world, so when a person approached a king, he showed respect and appreciation for this privilege. As Paul begins to lay out his instructions for how to pray, he reminds us of the position we should take as we approach God. Before we utter a single word of prayer, we must be clear in our hearts that we have the great privilege of entering into the presence of God. Regardless of the thoughts that are running through our minds or the dissatisfaction that may be lurking in our hearts, we need to enter God's presence with hearts filled with reverence and gratitude. Therefore, the first thing we must do to prepare ourselves to pray for our leaders and our government is to take care of the right attitude of heart.
Light of the world
Regarding the liturgy, you need to know this: at the proskomedia, the priest strictly prays only for members of the Church. He takes out the particles and puts them into the Chalice, in which the sins of the people being remembered are washed away with the Blood of Christ. Blood moves throughout the body, nourishing every cell. Everything that is outside our body cannot be washed with blood. So it is with Christians. Therefore, remembrance at the proskomedia is the highest remembrance. But since our God is love, we pray with love for the country, and for the authorities, and for the army, and for those traveling - and so on. We do not divide them, because the Lord is the sun and shines on everyone. By praying for everyone, we embrace the world and express our love for God, because He says: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). And love doesn’t end with just those who love us – “For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have?” (Matt. 5:46).
Christians are called to be the light of the whole world, which is why we have prayers for the peace of the whole world - this is a prayer on a universal scale, covering not only people, but every creature and insect, because they also suffer through our fault. This is the height of our teaching, which Christ brought to earth, this is evidence of its divine origin, and not of some parochial one, locally acting for a certain group of people. We desire that all become members of the Body of Christ. But if a person does not want this, he has free will, it is up to him to decide whether to live outside this Body or inside it.
PRAYER OF PERSONAL DEDICATION
Further, Paul writes: “Therefore, first of all, I urge that prayers and petitions be made...” The word "petition" in Greek is proseuche, meaning exchange, surrender, or surrender, and depicts a person entering into God's presence to first sanctify himself. So Paul is stating that our first responsibility as believers, before we make a request or complaint about others—before we say anything at all—is to enter into God's presence, to get our attitude of heart and mind in order before Him. Then with a pure heart we can accept His thoughts and know His ways. When we pray for others with the right attitude, our words begin to reflect the Father's heart instead of our own preferences and opinions. We must submit everything to God and the power of His Spirit before we say anything to Him in prayer.
PRAYER OF INTERCEPTION FOR OTHERS
Once a believer has dealt with his wrong attitude and has taken the time to commit, Paul writes about what to do next: “I urge, therefore, first of all, that prayers, petitions, supplications be made...”
The word supplication is the Greek word huperentugchano, which means to appeal to God on behalf of someone else. When you have straightened your attitude and committed yourself to God's will, you are in a position to ask God for someone else. Perhaps you feel the Holy Spirit leading you to pray for someone who is unable to pray for themselves, such as a new believer who simply does not know how to pray effectively, or government leaders whose spiritual condition and unwise decisions are negatively affecting them. influence a huge number of people. In other words, you feel the Holy Spirit leading you to take an intercessory position and direct your prayers to a specific person or situation. And if you make sure that there are no obstacles in your heart, then you can pray for others while remaining free from selfish motives or wrong attitudes.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Paul continues his list of prayer instructions with the words: “I urge, therefore, first of all, that prayers, petitions, supplications, thanksgivings be made...”
According to this verse, you need to say words of gratitude when you are in God's presence. The word "thanksgiving", which is a form of the Greek word eucharistos, describes a heart overflowing with gratitude. Let's be honest - it's hard to be grateful and appreciative when there is dissatisfaction and pity lurking in your heart! God knows this. Therefore, He instructs us to allow gratitude to flow from our hearts, and this will change the “inner atmosphere” while we pray.
So, before you complain about your manager—or anyone else—first take a moment to think about what you can be grateful for about that person. This will change your attitude and make your prayer much more effective. And rest assured - God will appreciate the change in your attitude!
PRAYER FOR EVERYONE
Paul continues: “I urge, therefore, first of all, that prayers, petitions, supplications, and thanksgivings be made for all men.”
The word “all” means that we should not give preference to anyone or be selective about who we pray for. This is a good test, if there is someone you feel you cannot pray for, it most likely indicates a problematic attitude in your heart that needs to be dedicated to the Lord. It is very important to understand this because failure to pray for someone reveals a deep need for change in yourself.
Axiom of love
Everything that we are experiencing now has already happened, and much more severely. In any situation, we need to remain Christians, look to the Head of our faith - Christ. He teaches: pray for those who curse you - and this is an axiom that does not require proof. It is impossible to understand it with our minds, and there is no need to philosophize in this matter.
What do we mean by the concept of “prayer”? When we pray for our loved ones, we want them to be alive, healthy, prosperous and happy. If we pray for government officials, it seems that we wish the same for them. This is wrong. Prayer for power does not at all mean unconditional support for its domestic and foreign policies. First of all, we ask God to make her better, more humane, kinder, more worthy. We ask that government officials gradually begin to think about people, so that they don’t quarrel among themselves and, excuse me, steal a little less. Of course, it is not for us, who have taken the path of repentance, to count the sins of others, especially when it comes to people whom we do not personally know. But we ask anyway.
Saint Nicholas of Japan survived the Russian-Japanese War with his flock. I advise you to read his diary entries from that period. It was the hardest time for him. He would gather his flock and say, “I cannot pray for power in the service, because then I will be a hypocrite. I cannot ask for health to the Japanese Emperor, but inside I wish health to the Russian Emperor. But I tell you to pray both for your emperor and for the army.”
When a society experiences serious political crises and wars, it is difficult for everyone. But it is important to remain followers of Christ, and He said that we are strangers and strangers in this world, our fatherland is in Heaven. Everyone’s task is to reconcile those around us. If we stop praying, I don’t know what will happen. After all, power is not something abstract, but concrete living people. How can you be sure that they cannot change? There is a law that is higher than the law of justice and all others - this is the law of love. Christ wants us to live according to this law, because it is he who operates in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Of course, it is difficult to achieve the law of love in our lives. In order for the Lord to accept us into His Kingdom according to this law, we will have to wage war with ourselves. The Holy Scripture says: “says the Lord God: I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). Christ wants everyone to be saved. We as His followers should want the same thing, and our prayer expresses our solidarity with Him.
PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT LEADERS
Paul goes on to say that we should pray “for kings.” If anyone needed prayer, it was the unsaved rulers who held high positions of power and authority in the 1st century AD! But Paul expands on these heavenly instructions by saying that we are to pray for all “those in authority.” The word "in command" in Greek, huperarche, describes prominent government officials. Think about it. This means that we should pray for all prominent government officials - even those we don't care about! Paul tells us the reason:
“... so that we may lead a quiet and serene life in all piety and purity, for this is good and pleasing to our Savior God...”
Most New Testament believers did not have the right to vote and did what they could do and followed Paul's six instructions regarding prayer.
I am sure that if they were given the right to vote, they would rush to the ballot boxes. But the only vote they had was prayer—so they prayed! After their rulers were established in power and nothing more could be changed, the first believers took up prayer very seriously. And ultimately, the power of those prayers brought about far greater change than any election could ever produce! Remember that the people who find themselves in power are there because of the democratic system that elected them. They represent the choices of the people who put them there. If we are not happy with the result, after a few years we will again have the opportunity to influence the situation.
However, the most serious effect will be when we enter into God's presence and with the authority given to us in the Name of Jesus we fulfill
the six prayer instructions
given by the Holy Spirit of the Church through the Apostle Paul!
How to treat godless authorities?
Political power a priori cannot cause any harm to God. But what if the power is generally unbearable? What should I do? What to do?
I recommend reading “Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church”, section “Church and State”, in particular paragraph 5:
“If the government forces Orthodox believers to apostatize from Christ and His Church, as well as to commit sinful, spiritually harmful acts, the Church must refuse to obey the state. A Christian, following the dictates of his conscience, may not fulfill the command of the authorities, forcing him to commit grave sin. If it is impossible for the Church Authority to obey state laws and orders of the authorities, the Church Authority, after properly considering the issue, can take the following actions: enter into a direct dialogue with the authorities on the problem that has arisen; call on the people to use the mechanisms of democracy to change legislation or review government decisions; appeal to international authorities and world public opinion; appeal to your children for peaceful civil disobedience.”
For a better understanding of the above, I offer a letter sent to Emperor Maximian by Saint Mauritius on behalf of the Theban Legion:
“Emperor, we are your soldiers, but also the soldiers of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot deny Him who is our Creator and Ruler, even though you deny Him. In everything that is not contrary to His law, we obey you with the greatest willingness, as we have done until now. We readily oppose our enemies, whoever they may be, but we cannot stain our hands with the blood of innocent people (Christians). We took an oath to God before we took an oath to you. You will not be able to give any confidence to our second oath if we violate the other, the first. You ordered us to execute Christians - look, we are the same. We acknowledge God the Father, Creator of all things, and His Son, Lord and God Jesus Christ. We have seen our comrades beheaded by the sword; we do not mourn them, but rather rejoice in their honor. Neither this nor any other incident tempted us to rebel. We have weapons in our hands, but we do not resist, because we would rather die innocent than live in sin.”
Eucharius, Bishop of Lyons, admiring the feat of the martyrs, writes: “Neither their number nor the strength of their weapons tempted them to support their righteousness by force.” The full height of Christian self-awareness is also demonstrated by many other holy men and women. They teach us to be faithful to God, the Church, and also to always remember that evil can only be defeated with goodness, love and prayer.
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. . For if you love those who love you, what will be your reward? Don't publicans do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing are you doing? Don't the pagans do the same? Therefore be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48).
