What the apostle Paul's command about prayer teaches Christians about moments of crisis

Saturday evening, July 13, instantaneously became one of those “where were you when?” moments.

I was sitting on the couch watching a movie when I heard my phone buzz. When I looked at the screen, there was a notification from a group chat that includes several friends who work in full-time Christian ministry. It was a simple question. “Are you guys watching this?” There was a flurry of affirmative responses of disbelief, and I quickly typed out, “What are we watching and where?”

'We have a responsibility to pray. We need to pray regularly for all our leaders — national, state, and local.'

The next message was jarring: “Someone just shot at Donald Trump on live TV."

At that moment, I joined the rest of the country watching and reading reports of what would soon be confirmed as an unsuccessful assassination attempt. The last attempted assassination of a sitting or former president took place in 1981, the year I was born. This kind of political violence is not unprecedented in the history of our country, but it is not something that has ever happened in my lifetime.

I wrestled through a gamut of thoughts and emotions. I was shocked and angered. I quickly told my wife what was happening. I gathered my kids, one of whom had heard the news from his friends while playing video games online, and tried my best as a parent to help them understand this historic moment. I called my dad to see if he had heard the news. The aforementioned group chat was in overdrive. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that I thought, “I should pray.”

That’s an embarrassing sentence to write because I’m a pastor. I’ve been a Christian for 28 years. I’ve been a pastor for 18 years. I’ve preached countless sermons in which I’ve proclaimed that prayer shouldn’t be our last resort — it should be our first resort.

In that moment of national crisis, it wasn’t a first resort for me, but it should have been. Before I scrolled, before I called, before I read — I should have prayed.

Eventually, I did pray that evening. First, I prayed a prayer of repentance that I hadn’t practiced what I preached, and then I prayed for all those involved in the tragedy and for our nation as a whole. I prayed the next morning as I prepared to address my congregation, and I prayed in both of our worship services that morning.

Before I prayed in church Sunday morning, I shared a specific exhortation with our people. I told them that there is no place for political violence in our nation. I told them, as Christians, we have a twofold responsibility in moments like these. We must always condemn evil in every form, and we must pray.

Regarding prayer, I said this, “We have a responsibility to pray. We need to pray regularly for all our leaders — national, state, and local. We need to appeal to our King, the King of kings, for protection, for wisdom, and for the salvation of their souls."

I believe this because it’s what the Bible teaches. God’s word is replete with commands, calls, and exhortations to pray. The Bible teaches us that we should pray, how to pray, and what we should be praying for.

The principle of praying for leaders is found in 1 Timothy 2. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to a young pastor named Timothy, who was pastoring the church in Ephesus that Paul had planted 10 years earlier. Paul’s letter addressed a series of concerns within the life of the church and gave Timothy specific instructions on how to address those concerns so that he could lead his church faithfully. 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”

Paul was urging Timothy to treat prayer as a matter of importance, a first resort.

God wants all men and women to be saved by placing their faith and trust in Christ alone — and that includes our leaders.

And while it is clear that we are called to pray for all men everywhere, in 1 Timothy 2:1 Paul calls the church to specifically pray “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” He says they need to pray that their leaders govern in such a way that there is peace and quiet in society, holistic peace that allows all men and women to flourish, and for Christians, the opportunity to live faithfully without fear of persecution.

Christians love to pray for Christian leaders. But Ephesus was under the rule of the Roman empire and had never had a Christian king. So when Paul calls us to pray for our leaders, he’s not simply referring to the leaders we like or the leaders from our political party of choice.

He means all leaders.

We should pray for our leaders at every level of service — local, state, and national. We should pray for their safety. I do not believe any Christian should have to practice his faith under the fear of persecution from his leaders. I also believe no elected official should ever have to do his job in fear of his life. We should also pray that God grants them wisdom. I believe as Christians we should pray that wisdom is rooted in the principles of God’s word.

Most importantly, I believe we should pray for their salvation. Paul continues in 1 Timothy 2:3-5, saying, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

God wants all men and women to be saved by placing their faith and trust in Christ alone — and that includes our leaders.

Tragedy is inevitable. Prayerlessness is not. In moments of crisis, may our collective call be, “Let us pray.”