Letter: Bible says to pray for leaders

Regarding your article on Saturday, Jan. 21: “Would you pray for Trump?”

Commentator Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune asked a very good question, for all of his readers, and for us as well. He might have posed the question in a different way. “Will we pray for a person in authority, if we don’t like them or agree with them?”

It’s easy to pray for someone we like; but what if we don’t like the person, what if we don’t agree with them, or believe what they believe? Because it is a question of religion, perhaps the best place to look for an answer is in the Word of God, for God knows the answer to this question and to every question that has ever been asked.

I believe that for every important issue in life, God has an answer in His Word, and here is His answer to praying for people in authority. I Timothy 2:1: “I (Paul) urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority.”

Please note: God did not say to pray for kings and those in authority if they are good and just, or you like or agree with them, but for all kings and all that are in places of authority. Should we do less?

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Letter: Bible says to pray for leaders."