Pray for Kings (1 Timothy 2:1-5)

Paul begins this section of his letter by highlighting the importance of corporate prayer meetings. When he writes ‘first of all’, he is not as it were striking out items in a list. After all, he does not go on to say secondly or thirdly. Rather he is stressing the significance of such prayer in the life of a congregation. He may even be saying that prayer is the most essential aspect of a healthy church.

Paul wanted Timothy to instruct the believers in Ephesus to pray in a global manner. I take his reference to all people to mean all nations rather than all individuals since that would fit with the context in which he mentions rulers and others in authority. If he meant all individuals, it would be unusual then to mention rulers specifically.

Why distinct types of prayer?

We see that in addition to global prayer, he also instructed Timothy to ensure that varied types of prayer would be offered. He mentions four kinds of prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. We should note that each kind of prayer is plural in number. This could be because they will be praying for more than one ruler, or it could mean that when they pray for a ruler they should have several petitions of each aspect of prayer. The plural also points to them praying in specific, definite ways for those in authority.

Is there a difference between the types? One way to look at them is to take ‘prayers’ as meaning prayer in general and the other three as examples of the kinds of prayer. So there will be occasions when prayer will be more necessary and more earnest, and we can understand why that would be the case. For example, in time of a war, our prayers for rulers would be more urgent.

It is obvious what thanksgivings are, but as we can see, the word is plural which indicates that we should identify the particular aspects for which we are thankful. So that leaves supplications and intercessions. Supplications are made for certain needs that may arise and intercessions may stress the awareness we have that we can bring certain people to God in prayer. Yet we can see that types of prayer overlap, so maybe we should not be too precise about the distinction between supplications and intercessions.

Examples of prayer for rulers

One of the earliest writings of the early church is a letter called 1 Clement. Clement was a church leader in Rome and he wrote a letter to the church in Corinth towards the end of the first century, probably during a period of persecution of the church by the Roman authorities. Here is what he wrote about prayer for rulers:

61:1 Thou, Lord, hast given the authority of the kingdom to them through thy almighty and unspeakable power, so that we, knowing the estimation and honour given to them by thee, might submit ourselves to them, in no way opposing thy will; to whom give, O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability, so that they may discharge the rule given unto them by thee without offence;

61:2 for thou, heavenly Lord, everlasting King, givest to the sons of men glory and honour and authority over the things that are upon the earth. Do thou, Lord, direct their counsel according to what is good and pleasing before thee, that, fulfilling with peace and meekness and piety the authority given unto them by thee, they may obtain mercy from thee.

61:3 Thou who alone art able to do these and greater good things among us, to thee do we give thanks through the high priest and protector of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom to thee be the glory and majesty, now and to all generations, world without end. Amen.

We can see from his letter that Clement followed the teachings of Paul about praying for rulers and others in authority.

Another example is The Directory of Public Worship, which was composed at the same time as the Westminster Confession, contains instructions about praying for those in authority. Here is a section of what it says. We are to:

‘pray for all in authority, especially for the King’s Majesty; that God would  make him rich in blessings, both in his person and government; establish his throne in religion and righteousness, save him from evil counsel, and make him a blessed and glorious instrument for the conservation and propagation of the gospel, for the encouragement and protection of them that do well, the terror of all that do evil, and the great good of the whole church, and of all his kingdoms…’

Thomas Boston made these comments in a sermon about praying for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘Pray for the peace of the protectors of Jerusalem. For the queen, under the shadow of whose authority, we have the peaceable enjoyment of gospel ordinances in purity and plenty, Isa. 49:23. When the Lord took away our nursing father, he raised up a nursing mother, and disappointed the hopes of enemies. Pray for the parliament, their peace with God and among themselves, in the Lord, 1 Tim. 2:1, 2. They have need of prayers, especially while such great things are before them, as now are in agitation.’ 

Focus on rulers

Why do we need to pray for them? Many answers could be given to that question. Here are some reasons.

First, God commands us to do it, and that in itself should be sufficient reason. God devised human governments, as Paul tells us in Romans 13. We are praying for his institution, for his method.

Second, all of them are only human, even if some of them have greater intellects than other humans. No human is omnicompetent, and no group of humans, even the one composed of rulers, is omnicompetent. They all need divine help.

Third, all of them experience the common consequences of the Fall. They rule over sinful people, there will be various degrees of opposition to their plans, there will be frustrations about many aspects, there will be disappointments when their policies do not work, there will not be enough time to complete what they started.

Fourth, all of them experience the common sorrows of life, and we are very much aware of this at the present time as our royal family mourns the passing of the Queen.

Fifth, we should pray for them because they can, through God’s grace, create the circumstances in which the worship of God can take place. Paul mentions that aspect of things in this passage when he says that we desire ‘a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.’

Sixth, we pray for them because their decisions can make it easier to engage in global evangelism. Paul mentions this possibility in this passage as well. An obvious example of this is the British empire which allowed the message of the gospel to spread to numerous countries. This is not to say that everything the British Empire did was right, because it wasn’t. Yet we know that much was done through people praying for the spread of the gospel in the nineteenth century.

Seventh, we should pray for them in such a way that they will recognise that we want them to be successful rulers. Success can be defined in many ways, but Paul’s description of ‘a peaceful and quiet life’ is a description of success. A nation whose people can enjoy such a blessing has rulers who have been helped by God, even if they do not recognise them.

Eighth, we should pray for them because they are used by God in his providential arrangements of life. God is a God of order. One way by which he ensures order is through human governments. Our providences are often caused by the rules and laws of the land.

Ninth, we should pray for them because connected to the fact of providence and human rulers is that through them God exercises his common grace as part of his providence. We know that his common grace affects all of life to some extent. Governments arrange for many things that make life in this world possible such as the supply of food, medical services, cultural events, education, and travel. Where would we be if such things were not provided by God through the decisions of rulers.

Tenth, we should pray for them because we want Jesus to be recognised as King of the nations. It is part of our heritage that the risen and crowned Jesus is the head of the world as well as head of the church. We want to recognise that they are under the authority of Christ and accountable to him.

Special times for praying for rulers

Our common sense tells us that there are special occasions for praying for our rulers. In our country, a general election would be an obvious time to pray for them. The handover of power to a new leaders would be such a time as well. And we are experiencing an important time as well. We have a new king and we have a new prime minister.