Well done to all of you who remembered to pray for Her Majesty the Queen today!
Puzzled?
Even as I write I can see the frowns. Is it some special occasion? Has something tragic happened to someone in the royal family? No, don't worry it's nothing like that. I've just been reading from the book of Timothy (lights start to go on in the minds of those with a good memory for matters biblical), in particular I've been reading about prayer. 1Tim 2:2 exhorts us to; Pray for everyone, "for Kings (Queens!?)... and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth...."
"God save our..."
So now you know why I congratulated those who remembered to pray for the Queen, Now we could have an interesting discussion about how much authority the Queen actually has in a parliamentary democracy, but the reality is that she still does command a great deal of respect and not insignificant influence both nationally and internationally.
We could have a further interesting debate on the separation of Church and State, but like it or not Her Majesty is still the head of the Church of England. As such the Queen and her family play a role in shaping how Christianity is viewed in the UK and beyond. That role has no doubt diminished, but not yet disappeared. So as you can see she's in need of our prayers.
Of course the Queen is not the only person in authority. I wonder how many of us have sat and watched the news of the unfolding global financial crisis, seen how the impact of greed is now starting to impact millions of ordinary people. I'd be willing to wager that many of us have commented on the failings of such and such a chancellor, governor or prime minister, and perhaps we were even right in our criticisms, but have we prayed for them?
Who's to blame?
Reading the news and pointing the finger of blame is such a nice easy game, it's much easier than reading the bible and kneeling to pray. I mean running a country is so easy, any one of us could do it,and if only we could manage the trick of turn hindsight into foresight we'd all be brilliant.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that our politicians, captains of industry and the financial powers should be held accountable for their actions. I think that they should be rewarded when they get things right and penalised when they get it wrong. But in these tough times I realise that we need to accept some of the blame too.
Fire and forget?
We vote people into office which is good, but too often we don't shoulder the burden of our responsibilities after that. Too often we just vote and then we simply leave them to it. Scripture takes a different view, scripture tells us to pray. When we don't pray can we blame those in authority when they go off the rails, or is it our job to uphold them in doing right through prayer?
Follow who's example?
Many of us would love to see revival in the Church, and a spiritual awakening in our country. How sad would it be if that revival came and we trained up millions of new believers to follow Christ as we do, and continued to neglect what scripture teaches? We could have a country that was much more Christian in it's make up, and still have a government and economy that was shaped by forces other than God.
Let's Pray. Father forgive us for not praying for those in authority or one another as often as we should. Help us to support those who shape our nation and our economy through our prayers. Give us wisdom to know how to pray for them, that they might have wisdom to make the right decisions. Amen?
So today, as you listen to the news, or read your newspaper, take a moment or two to pray for those involved in the stories you read. Ask yourself if I don't pray can I really expect things to improve?
Puzzled?
Even as I write I can see the frowns. Is it some special occasion? Has something tragic happened to someone in the royal family? No, don't worry it's nothing like that. I've just been reading from the book of Timothy (lights start to go on in the minds of those with a good memory for matters biblical), in particular I've been reading about prayer. 1Tim 2:2 exhorts us to; Pray for everyone, "for Kings (Queens!?)... and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth...."
"God save our..."
So now you know why I congratulated those who remembered to pray for the Queen, Now we could have an interesting discussion about how much authority the Queen actually has in a parliamentary democracy, but the reality is that she still does command a great deal of respect and not insignificant influence both nationally and internationally.
We could have a further interesting debate on the separation of Church and State, but like it or not Her Majesty is still the head of the Church of England. As such the Queen and her family play a role in shaping how Christianity is viewed in the UK and beyond. That role has no doubt diminished, but not yet disappeared. So as you can see she's in need of our prayers.
Of course the Queen is not the only person in authority. I wonder how many of us have sat and watched the news of the unfolding global financial crisis, seen how the impact of greed is now starting to impact millions of ordinary people. I'd be willing to wager that many of us have commented on the failings of such and such a chancellor, governor or prime minister, and perhaps we were even right in our criticisms, but have we prayed for them?
Who's to blame?
Reading the news and pointing the finger of blame is such a nice easy game, it's much easier than reading the bible and kneeling to pray. I mean running a country is so easy, any one of us could do it,and if only we could manage the trick of turn hindsight into foresight we'd all be brilliant.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that our politicians, captains of industry and the financial powers should be held accountable for their actions. I think that they should be rewarded when they get things right and penalised when they get it wrong. But in these tough times I realise that we need to accept some of the blame too.
Fire and forget?
We vote people into office which is good, but too often we don't shoulder the burden of our responsibilities after that. Too often we just vote and then we simply leave them to it. Scripture takes a different view, scripture tells us to pray. When we don't pray can we blame those in authority when they go off the rails, or is it our job to uphold them in doing right through prayer?
Follow who's example?
Many of us would love to see revival in the Church, and a spiritual awakening in our country. How sad would it be if that revival came and we trained up millions of new believers to follow Christ as we do, and continued to neglect what scripture teaches? We could have a country that was much more Christian in it's make up, and still have a government and economy that was shaped by forces other than God.
Let's Pray. Father forgive us for not praying for those in authority or one another as often as we should. Help us to support those who shape our nation and our economy through our prayers. Give us wisdom to know how to pray for them, that they might have wisdom to make the right decisions. Amen?
So today, as you listen to the news, or read your newspaper, take a moment or two to pray for those involved in the stories you read. Ask yourself if I don't pray can I really expect things to improve?
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