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Cedarville Magazine
Cedarville Magazine
251 N. Main St., Cedarville, OH 45314
1-888-CEDARVILLE |
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people, for kings and all who are
in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful
and quiet life, godly and dignified in every
way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight
of God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:1–3).
The place is really quite remarkable.
Nestled on a leafy street lined with brick
sidewalks, Capitol Hill Baptist Church
(CHBC) is a different sort of monument,
especially when compared to Washington,
D.C.’s other landmarks. Mark Dever, the
pastor, serves a congregation of political
animals in perhaps the world’s most political
city. Though politics is rarely a clear theme at
CHBC, prayer is. The prayers are long, read,
and rich. Periodically, Dever and others pray
for our leaders, from the President of the
United States to the District’s Mayor. Most
strikingly, the prayers are devoid of rancor
and division, for they petition God not for
political victory, but for His wisdom and
blessing to be poured onto our leaders as
they fulfill their duties. The juxtaposition
between the church’s solemnity and the city
that surrounds it is striking and captivating,
and it is never so stark as when the body of
Christ calls on God. Through these prayers,
CHBC fulfills God’s commands.
Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, printed
above, is familiar, perhaps overly so. Paul
calls on Timothy not only to pray, but to do
so properly. An intercession is to intervene on
behalf of another, and a supplication is to pray
humbly and earnestly. How we pray for our
leaders can be as important as what we pray
for as we approach God. To pray humbly for
another takes the focus off the one who prays
and places the other’s needs before God’s
throne. To pray earnestly is to pray sincerely
— without guile, mixed motives, or hidden
agendas.
Too frequently, we think of prayer as a
laundry list of demands for God, but when
we do so, we miss one of its primary purposes.
If we take this passage to heart, we find that
prayer is not only for God to consider our
requests, but so that we might be transformed
through the act of prayer. If we are to avoid the
hypocrisy of appearing one way before God,
but thinking and acting differently around
others, then how we pray should reflect how
we live, ponder, and speak. Consider the
implications for not only how we pray for
leaders, but for how we should treat them and
talk about them with others.
Attitudes such as humility, sincerity, and
earnestness are bluntly at odds with our
culture and its approach to leaders and their
authority. When we think of our leaders, be
they elected officials, pastors, or our bosses, we
rarely consider or speak about them through
these attributes. We are far more likely to be
angry, cynical, jealous, or opportunistic. Our
politics are marked by hostility. Our social
media interactions are far from sincere and
earnest. Think of our witness if we carry
these qualities into our daily lives at church,
in the home, on the job, or in our classrooms.
Perhaps this is what Paul means when he
encourages us to do these things so that “we
may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and
dignified in every way.”
So, we pray for our leaders because we
are commanded to do so; not only for their
wisdom and godliness, but so we might
portray those prayers as we reflect Christ to
those around us.
Mark Caleb Smith
is an
Associate Professor of
Political Science and
Director of the Center
for Political Studies at
Cedarville. He received a
master’s degree from Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School and a master’s
and Ph.D. from The University of Georgia.
Praying for Our Leaders
In Closing
by Mark Caleb Smith
