Prayer for the Leader

THERE are so many things that are not going well in the country--what with the many unresolved killings, with the unabated drug problem in spite of the drug war (or may be precisely because of the drug war), with many more people suffering under the yoke of poverty, with the growing encroachment of the Chinese! Added to these we have the unnecessary and unprovoked ranting of the President against the Catholic Church and her teachings. Many people ask in exasperation: What can we do? What should we do?

Among the many things that we can do and should do, as believers we do what we are supposed to be good at: PRAY! Pope Francis said: “What is the best that we can offer to those who govern? Prayer! That’s what Paul says: ‘Pray for all people, and for the king and for all in authority.’ A Christian who does not pray for those who govern is not a good Christian!” In the Bible there are several psalms that pray for the king.  Furthermore, we have all the more reason to pray when we feel that we are being persecuted. The Lord Jesus is clear on this: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:43-44) A concrete way to love our enemies is to pray for them.

Let us not belittle the power of prayer. Jesus assures us: “I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.” (Mk 11:24) Nothing will be impossible when we pray with faith. Let us take the word of Jesus for this: "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." (Mt 21:21-22) True prayer, however, is also to be accompanied by righteous lives. The St. James wrote: “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” (Jam 5:16) And still in another text we are told: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears turned to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers." (1 Pet 3:12)

So instead of just lamenting our times and allowing our anger or our sense of helplessness to take the upper hand. let us pray. Prayer calms us down and invokes the highest power to act. Let us believe in HIM and let us also believe in what we pray for. And as we pray, let us strive to live justly and not allow anger to boil over.

I myself pray for the president and sincerely do. I do not stop to point out the unjust and false things that he does and utter, but I do pray for him. My prayer for him is: LORD, CHANGE HIM! Can you join with me in this prayer?