Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel...Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword...And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. – 1 Chronicles 21:1-15

The passage above offers us an insight as to why we must always uphold our statesmen or political leaders in prayer. They require our fervent prayers because, to a large extent, our welfare depends on what they do or fail to do (1 Timothy 2:1-3). The same way we are affected directly or indirectly by their noble or base decisions.

The policies they promulgate can play a major role in either we are in business or out of it; and this has nothing to do with whether such decisions are righteous or not. Once they are instituted, everyone in their jurisdiction are bound to comply. That is why they deserve our prayers so that they can operate by the wisdom and counsel of God, and so that all they do will be influenced by the fear of God.

In the passage above, we see how Israel lost 70,000 men in one fell swoop on account of the mistake of their ruler. David had woken up one day and felt he needed to know the number of people he governed, so he commissioned a census which proved fatal. And it is interesting that David wasn’t the one who suffered the consequence of his mistake. His subjects did. Perhaps, if the people had been committed to praying for him, he would have been hedged from the temptation to count the people and that would have saved the nation the huge loss of 70,000 lives. But he commanded the counting and God, in His displeasure, punished the citizens which resulted in such huge casualties.

The decision or indecision of our statesmen can impact our wellbeing in a good or bad way, and this has nothing to do with their religious affiliation. So, we must always pray for them to rule by the counsel and fear of God so that we can live in peace and prosperity.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

Why You Should Pray for People in Authority (1)
Lessons in Leadership: From a Janitor, Part 1
Lessons In Leadership: From a Janitor, Part 2
https://daily-dew.com/why-you-should-pray-for-political-leaders/