One responsibility we have as Christians is to pray and interceed on behalf of families and the nations of the world. The bible actually gives as a list to guide us on the category of people who need our constant prayers.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NKJV) says ‘Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.’
Why pray for all men? Mostly than not, men tend to be the head of households and families in many cultures, one wrong decision by them and everyone suffers. They need to be constantly covered in prayer for wisdom and guidance to make those critical decisions that make or break families. Prayer ideas for men include;
1. Grace and favor as they go about their duties trying to provide for the family.
2. Grace and wisdon to lead the family right and love them as Christ loved the church.
3. Wisdom and discernment for them to have the right kind of relationships outside the home that is wholesome and positive.
You can ask the Holy Spirit to guide in in how to cover your father, husband, son, nephew, uncle and friend in prayer; the list is endless.
The verse in 1Timothy 2 continues by saying ‘And for those in authority’. It means all the armed forces i.e. police, navy, army, customs etc, our bosses in the office, the Judiciary, Presidents, Parliamentarians, Senators, Cabinet members, Pastors, Church workers, Imams, Islamic Clerics etc so that they will make the right decisions in the line of duty so we can ‘lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence’. These people and many others in this category make major decisions that affect our lives daily so we cannot afford not to interceed for them.
Our people have a saying that ‘When you have your fingers in someone’s mouth you have to be cautious not to hit that person on the head’ Why is that? Because this will result in the person automatically biting you as a result of that hard knock on the head; so in effect you end up injuring your self.
This Ghanaian proverb beautifully summarises what I am trying to say; which is failure to pray for the category of people as stated in 1Timothy will eventually rob us from leading ‘peaceable’ lives ‘in all godliness and reverence.’
May God grant us ‘peaceable’ lives as obey him in interceeding for those in authority and all decision makers.
Emefa
emefagadze 