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In Acts 4:18-22, the Holy Spirit shows us a situation that every Christian should take to heart. It clearly illustrates why we need to pray for our leaders, and what can happen when we do not do so. Far too many Christians have ignored or been ignorant of the fact that we need to pray and intercede for those in authority.

It is a covenant right we need to exercise. It is also a spiritual survival skill we must learn to practice, particularly in light of satanic forces that would try to dominate us and stop our witness from going forth.

Before I go any further, however, let me give you a little background to the Scriptures we are going to read. Shortly after the day of Pentecost, Peter and John were going into the temple at Jerusalem to pray. There was a lame man begging at the gate called Beautiful, and they healed him in the name of Jesus.

The man ran into the temple, leaping and praising God. The people inside the temple knew the man; they had undoubtedly seen him many times begging when they came to pray. Now they rejoiced with the man in what the Lord had done.

However, the religious leaders soon got wind of what had happened, and they summoned Peter and John to "call them on the carpet":
And they [the religious leaders] called them [Peter and John] and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

"For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
(Acts 4:18-22)
We have a dilemma posed in this segment of Scripture. That dilemma is, "Do we obey God, or do we obey man?" The religious leaders told Peter and John, "Don't teach the people any more in this name." In other words, they were telling them, "Don't preach."

But Jesus had told Peter and John, along with the other apostles, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), and Jesus is the head of the Church.

Some of us may have to make a choice like the one before Peter and John. That choice may cost some of us our lives. This is why we as Believers desperately need to hold up places like this nation, the United States of America, in prayer. We need to pray for the leaders of this nation on a daily basis.

We need to uplift them before God and ask Him to guide them, through the Holy Spirit, to make sound judgments and decisions. Otherwise, the devil will take full advantage of our indifference, just as he has in the past. All we have to do is look around to see that the enemy has been extremely busy.

We have a wonderful, precious opportunity in this country. We can gather together to worship the Lord and study His Word without any fear that the secret police will arrest us. People in countries with more repressive governments do not always have the freedom to proclaim the Gospel. They have been thrown into prison, and some of them have even died there.

Picture this situation: You walk out the door of your church. Someone walks up to you and puts a submachine gun to your head. The person says, "You have two choices: No more preaching or speaking about Jesus, or go to prison for the rest of your life."

I do not ever want to be in a situation where I have to make a choice like that, do you?

Why Can't God Just Do It?
As I just mentioned, we need to pray and lift up our leaders. That way, we can make sure not to fall into situations like the one I have just illustrated. Some people may wonder, "Why can't God just act on our behalf if He cares that much about the situation? After all, He knows what is going on down here."

Of course God knows, but He cannot act independent of our asking Him to intercede. It is not the case that God does not want to help us if we do not ask. It is a case that He cannot. For God to act on our benefit, we have to enable Him.

When Adam sinned, he gave legal control and ownership of this planet to Satan. That action locked God out of the earth-realm, and made Satan the god of this world. The only way God could re-enter the earth-realm to act on man's behalf was by having us invite or ask Him to do so.

Remember that when God made Adam, He formed him from the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). We are of this planet, so this is our home. That is why we can invite our heavenly Father into the earth-realm to work in our interest.

The way we invite God is through prayer. Our inviting God allows Him, by His Spirit, to move on our behalf. It enables Him to move upon governments on behalf of His people.

Because it is our responsibility to enable God to help us, Paul gives us some very important instructions in Romans 13. We need to read these instructions very carefully. Otherwise, we will misconstrue what Paul is writing to us, and we will miss out on a very important principle.

In Romans 13:1, we read: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

What exactly is Paul saying in this verse? I believe Paul is saying that God has appointed the authorities—in other words, He has appointed the offices of government on a local, state, and national level.

For example, I believe that God has appointed the police force. I am not saying that God has appointed a particular person to be a police officer. What I mean is that God has appointed that there be an organization that operates as a police force. Without a police force, we cannot have an orderly society.

Our heavenly Father has appointed the offices of government. However, it is up to us to help maintain government in an orderly and godly fashion.

Many times, we abdicate our responsibility as Christians. We do not become involved in areas where we can participate.

Source: Living In Hostile Territory by Frederick K.C. Price
Excerpt permission granted by Frederick K.C. Price Ministries

Author Biography

Frederick K.C. Price
Web site: Ever Increasing Faith Ministries
 
Dr. Frederick K. C. Price received an honorary diploma from the Rhema Bible Training Center in 1976 and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree from Oral Roberts University in 1982; both institutions are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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