To our Western minds, the right to vote may seem like a God-given right that everyone has always enjoyed. But the truth is, countless people throughout the history of mankind and multitudes around the world today don’t have the right to vote. People in the Roman Empire during New Testament times never even imagined the possibility of casting a vote to change the course of government. They couldn’t elect a new emperor or select their senators, proconsuls, and court justices. They couldn’t determine governmental policies by voting. Politicians at that time were appointed or inherited their position due to noble birth.

Today we cherish the right to vote — and we must cherish it — but the pages of New Testament are silent on this subject because the concept of voting simply didn’t exist in the Roman Empire of the First Century. That’s why you cannot find a single scripture that urges Christians to run to the polling booth to vote on Election Day. Although it’s true that Athens had introduced the world’s first semblance of a democracy centuries earlier, for most people living in New Testament times, voting wasn’t even within the realm of imagination!

But imagine how history could have been changed if they had been able to go to the polling booth and vote for a change in leadership. Perhaps even Nero could have been removed! If this possibility had existed, don’t you think the apostle Paul would have urged Christians to exercise this right? I do. But that possibility did not exist; hence, the subject of voting is never brought up in New Testament Scriptures.

Thanks to the battles fought by our own forefathers for the freedom to choose our leadership in a representative democracy, today we as Americans have the right to express our will by casting a vote. And although we may be tempted to complain about politicians who make decisions that are out of sync with what we believe, we need to remember that in our democratic system, the people are the ones who choose those who hold elected leadership positions. Therefore, we have to accept responsibility for those we have elected! If we don’t like the direction our leaders are taking us, we have to look to ourselves, for we are part of the voting public who put them in power.

So whenever we start feeling frustration about the system or about the seemingly nonstop stupid decisions that are being made at the highest levels of power; whenever the dishonesty in our so-called “transparent” system hits us in the gut and nearly makes us sick; whenever policies are implemented that are morally against everything we believe; or whenever we begin to fear where this all may be headed — we must remember that there were enough people who believed a certain way to elect those who are now in power!

When we listen to well-articulated TV commentators in our moments of frustration, their expressions of disgust at the situation strengthens our own state of “upset.” But we have to remember that people elected those individuals! So before we moan and groan about our current President or about how poorly the Congress is performing, we need to remember that those elected officials could only be in their positions of power because the majority of people voted for them.

If we don’t like the way things are going — or if we are dissatisfied with our past election choices — we need to remember that our system of government will give us a new opportunity soon to right a wrong when it’s time to go to the voting booth again. And when the next election comes, it will be our responsibility to stand up to be counted — to do all we can to make a change that promotes righteousness and peace in our nation. If we as believers fail to use the voting privilege given to us as citizens of a free nation, it is to our shame! Yet even more importantly — especially if the nation has sunk so low morally that the majority keeps electing evil leaders — it is our responsibility to obey the biblical approach in dealing with the situation.

We must obey the exhortation given by the apostle Paul to pray for our governmental leaders! Before you dismiss Paul’s instructions as too simplistic, remember that he lived at a time of grossly immoral governmental leadership and that, in the end, he was mercilessly martyred by Nero — the very “king” he asked people to pray for in First Timothy 2:1-4!

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior….

Paul gives us SIX PRAYER COMMANDS in these verses that God expects us to obey — regardless of who is calling the shots politically.