Wednesday, May 30. Day 4 of 67 Days of Prayer

Today we are praying for the following districts:

• Tennessee State House District 10 – Currently represented by Tilman Goins
• Tennessee State House District 11 – Currently represented by Jeremy Faison
• Tennessee State House District 12 – Currently represented by Dale Carr
• Tennessee State Senate District  4 – Currently represented by Jon Lundberg

Our call to Prayer

Each day during this call to statewide prayer, we will be sharing a verse about government to guide us in praying. Please read this guide and pray through the scripture that is mentioned. Our commentary is just that – commentary. The word of God stands on its own as a guide to prayer.

“for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Romans 13.4 KJV

Allow us to start with an observation that is not intended to be insultingly simple: In a secular system, legislators write law and legislators establish consequences for breaking the law. Of course, the Lord uses this all for His purposes.

We see above in Romans 13.4 several ways which God uses the civil magistrate:

1. To minister to his people for good.
2. To cause those who do evil to be afraid.
3. Bear the sword (If you do not bear the sword in vain, you bear the sword)
4. As a minister of God
5. As a revenger to execute wrath on evil doers.

This is one of the hardest verses in scripture to take at face value, and yet as the word of God, we must do so.

Thankfully for me, the writer, we are discussing the role of a Biblical government. We will spend the next several days discussing each of the tasks and roles in Romans 13.4 in their most ideal form. We will pray for the Lord to raise up leaders, current and new, to fill these roles.

For he is a minister to thee for good

The Greek word for good – transliterated agathos – is used in several distinctive ways. This word is actually used 90 times in the New Testament. We won’t address more than a couple of these, but you can easily study this further using Strong’s Concordance.

In 1 Peter 3.11a we read “Let him eschew evil, and do good..” Agathos can be seen as the antithesis of evil. More specifically, he who is eschewing evil and doing that which is agathos is to “seek peace, and ensue it.”

“There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” Isaiah 48.22 KJV

Good is strongly associated with peace in scripture, and a lack of peace is strongly associated with evil and wickedness.

1 Timothy 1.5 says “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned…”

Conscience. Agathos is used as an adjective for Suneidesis – conscious. This is our soul making a decision according to all the input we have had such that it determines what is good and what is bad.

The kind of person needed to determine in an instant what is good and what is bad is a person who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and who has had input from God’s word.

To find elected officials who will minister to God’s people to cause good and in a manner of deep conscience shall be our cry to heaven for today.

A Prayer for Day 4 of 67 Days of Prayer

Lord, Your name is known in Johnson, Carter, Sullivan, Hamblen, Cocke, Jefferson, Greene, and Sevier counties. Thank You for the strong Christian heritage You have given to Your people in these areas.

Father, you have said in Romans 13.4 that government will “minister to thee for good.” Help us to seek your wisdom as we select those who would fill such challenging roles. Lord, for those already serving in our government, we ask that You would make them aware that they are to minister for good. 

For the corrupt and wicked – Lord, for all of us – we ask that You would use them in spite of their own efforts for good. With deep earnestness we ask that you would convict all of us in this state in our deepest hearts of our own sin.

Once more we ask: Father, would You cause a spirit of prayer to well up within the citizenry of Tennessee? Would You cause our state to once more seek Your face? Would you cause us to seek Your will as we vote – but not just in voting Lord, but in our daily lives? Would You move on our hearts and make our homes places of spiritual accountability?

Amen.

Please click here to download a printable guide of when to pray for each district. Please feel free to email this to other praying Christians, to insert this in your church bulletin, or to post it on your church bulletin board. Make sure you put a copy on your refrigerator or in another prominent place in your home. This guide may be freely reproduced as long as it is not modified.