“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
– Romans 13:1
That verse begins a whole description in the verses that follow of the place of government under God. How God has given government as an authority and all kinds of different authorities in our life and God’s design in authority is for our good. The government exists for example, to promote the good and condemn the bad, to protect and promote the good of its citizens.
Government exists for good. We are commanded to pray for those in authority over us.
Romans 13:1 Inspires Us to Pray for Our Leaders
And so when we think about government, when we think about authority, we need to think in light of Romans 13:1-7 and we need to pray in light of Romans 13:1-7. We know that in scripture we are commanded to pray for our leaders, to pray for leaders around us in the world, people in positions of authority over us. And I wonder if sometimes we are prone to, at least I am, prone to neglect prayer for leaders like God has called us to pray for leaders.
And so I want to lead us to pray for authority in our lives and specifically for government over our lives, so let’s pray. God we praise you for instituting authority in our lives for our good. We look to you as the ultimate authority over all. God, we want to obey you, worship you, follow you. We don’t want to compromise in any way in our obedience to you, so we give supreme absolute allegiance to you. At the same time under your authority, we thank you for putting government in place for our good and so we pray for those who are in positions of authority in the government over us.
A Prayer Based on Romans 13:1
God we pray for President Trump in my country, we pray for your grace upon him. God we pray that you would help him to lead well, in a way that does protect and promote the good of people. We pray for Vice President Pence, we pray for their leadership. God, we pray that you would help them to lead, God by your grace, in a way that is good for the citizens across our country and good for us. May you help them to lead in a way that is good for us. We pray for your blessings on their life, their leadership, their families for the good of this country.
God, we pray for similar leaders all around the world. We pray for presidents, world leaders who you have put over countries, over nations. Please, show your grace in and through those leaders, that people might experience good under governing authorities. God we pray for other authorities in each of lives, authority structures in family and the church and in different domains in the world around us.
God Is the Ultimate Leader
We pray that you would elevate people to positions of authority, who lead out of the overflow of your grace and your goodness. Oh God for leaders in government and any other domain, that they would lead justly we pray, that you would help them to know you, to fear you, to lead in light of your leadership over all. Lord we know you hold kings in the palm of your hand, so God we pray for this picture in Romans 13 to be a reality in authority, in my country in the United States, in countries around the world.
That we would experience your good design in government and authority in our lives and countries and nations and ultimately in a way that points to your ultimate good authority over all. We praise you as our king, even as we pray for our leaders, for president, for governors, for legislators, for people in positions of authority around us. We pray for them in light of our allegiance to you as king, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
