A few quotations from John Piper in his book Let the Nations Be Glad—2nd ed.:
Probably the number one reason prayer malfunctions in the hands of
believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic
intercom. Until you know that life
is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander
(Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go and bear fruit),
handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the
General’s headquarters, and said, “Comrades, the General has a mission for
you. He aims to see it
accomplished. And to that end he
has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these
transmitters. If you stay true to
his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your
transmitter, to give tactical advice and send air cover when you need it.”
But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance. No strategic planning. Just easy peace and prosperity. And what did we do with the
walkie-talkie? We tried to rig it
up as an intercom in our houses and cabins and boats and cars—not to call in
firepower for conflict with a mortal enemy but to ask for more comforts in the
den.
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Does the call to pray for leaders and tranquil peace
conflict with this image of prayer as a battlefield walkie-talkie?
But
read on. The reason for praying
this way is highly strategic.
Verses 3-4 say, “This [praying for peace] is good, and it is pleasing
the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth.” God
aims to save people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. But one of the great obstacles to
victory is when people are swept up into social, political, and militaristic
conflicts that draw away their attention, time, energy, and creativity from the
real battle of the universe.
Satan’s
aim is that no one be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. And one of his key strategies is to
start battles in the world that draw our attention away from the real battle
for the salvation of the lost and the perseverance of the saints. He knows that the real battle, as Paul
says, is not against flesh and blood.
So the more wars and conflicts and revolutions of “flesh and blood” he
can start, the better, as far as he is concerned.
So we pray for peace for the sake of the gospel. We pray for our leaders that we may
stay on mission for our King—Jesus.
