For some he's a kind of messiah, saving America from years of leftist misery. For many others, he sits at the literal opposite end of the leadership spectrum: a disastrous appointment who could damage the country for years to come. Yet while views and feelings about President Trump differ wildly, for all Christians the response – or at least part of it – must be the same.
As followers of Jesus we can legitimately campaign against Trump and his policies; or we can choose to support his administration. Yet while a biblical case for either of those positions is subjective, we're all called to a more fundamental act of obedience.
Every Christian, regardless of their political beliefs, must pray for Donald Trump.
The Bible is clear. Paul urges that we offer "petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all people – for kings and all those in authority" (1 Timothy 2: 1-2). We're specifically told to pray for the leaders of the world, not just about them. Praying they'll win mighty victories on the International stage, or suffer some sort of humiliating impeachment, is not what the Bible asks of us. Our role is to pray for them, personally, and somehow without bias.
Knowing this responsibility is one thing. Understanding how to put it into practice is quite another. How do you pray for your victorious leader without veering into triumphalism, or pray for your worst political nightmare without asking God for his demise? But we must. Because the moment we make God partisan, we reduce him to the level of our own broken political systems, when he's so much bigger than that.
Here then are a few things that all of us can, and should pray for President Trump, and with as little agenda as we can manage.
1. Pray for wisdom. We can all ask that if God gives one thing to the president over the next few years, it's a supernatural wisdom boost. So far, with his tendency to shoot from the hip in press conferences or on Twitter, Trump isn't currently known for being a wise ruler – but we should pray that as he grasps the gravity of his office, he will yet become one. This might require a greater or lesser degree of faith from us, but that's kind of what prayer is all about.
2. Pray that he'd keep wise counsel. Whatever might be written about Trump, he isn't a dictator. He's surrounded by a team of others, many of whom have the power to impact his policy decisions. In the run-up to the election, Trump suggested that he would be a man who listened to experts in the areas in which he wasn't one. We should pray not only that this is true in practice, but also that he'll listen to a wide variety of voices and opinions and be led by God to heed the right ones.
3 Pray that he would govern peacefully. In Jeremiah 29:7, God tells his people to pray for the peace of the city to which they've been carried into exile. In other words, while they might not have liked or agreed with the ruling powers above them, the people were to pray that the nation would experience peace and prosperity. In a world full of real and potential international tensions, we should pray that whatever else the president does, he would learn to become a peace-maker, rather than a man who increases conflict. This is perhaps even more pertinent to the domestic situation in America, where many people groups now feel disenfranchised and scared by the political wind change.
4. Pray for his personal safety. One of the worst – and most unacceptable – trends among those who oppose Trump has been half-joking suggestions on social media about the president suffering some sort of accident or attack. To be clear, not only is this thoroughly un-Christ-like behaviour, but a real attack on the president would destabilise the US and the international community more than anything. We should pray instead that he is kept safe – along with all his citizens – "honouring the emperor", as Peter puts it (1 Peter 2:17), in spite of our opinion of him.
5. Pray that he would know and hear from God. Finally, since so many voices within the Church have claimed that Donald Trump is a "baby Christian" who has genuinely accepted the faith, we should pray that this is actually accurate. More than that, perhaps we should dare to pray that as the president seeks to grow spiritually, he is able to hear and understand the will of God as something greater than his own, even in his lofty role. Again, this might feel a stretch to those who vehemently oppose Trump's policies, but surely if we believe in an all-powerful God who created the universe, we also believe he has the power to change and steer even the most strong-willed of men.
For some of us, approaching the list above will be easy; the hard part will be staying God-honouringly-neutral as we do. For others among us, praying through these things each day will represent a serious challenge. Yet whatever we think of the man, he's been elected to govern the most powerful nation on earth – one with the capability to do unthinkable damage and the power to do extraordinary good. Whether we support or oppose the man, we should all take seriously the responsibility of praying that he'll become the kind of leader who'll steer toward the latter.
Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martinsaunders.
