I tell you to pray for all people.
—1 Timothy 2:1
Some politicians are downright unlikable. Someone said that politics seems to draw people with the dual traits of a gigantic ego and an inferiority complex.
When Paul told us in 1 Timothy 2 to pray for all people, the only people he singled out were those who govern: “Pray for rulers and for all who have authority” (1 Tm 2:2).
John Stott wrote: “This was a remarkable instruction, since at that time no Christian ruler existed anywhere in the world.”
In fact, when Paul wrote these words, the reigning Roman emperor was Nero, a notoriously cruel ruler who scapegoated Christians for the fire that destroyed much of Rome. Tradition has it that it was Nero’s brutal persecution of Christians that led to the executions of Peter and Paul.
It’s hard to pray for people you don’t like. But there it is.
Today refuse to pray for yourself
until you have first prayed for others.