About Prayer at Parliament
Over many years of ministry, I have observed that churches pray for various issues e.g. for the flock, the sick, and the needy, for their ministry programmes and mission yet prayer for those in authority in other sectors of society was largely neglected. We have not taught our people to pray for those in authority adequately.
Why Pray for Our Leaders?
I was drawn to two passages of scripture. Firstly, Romans 13:1 which instructs us that all powers that be, derive their authority from God who is the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe; that human authorities were therefore God’s agents for the promotion of the common good and the preservation of law and order.
From 1 Timothy 2:1-2 we learn that in Apostle Paul’s agenda for prayer, praying for those in authority heads the list. We are to pray for "kings and all in authority". The late Derek Prince’s observation confirmed my own: "Extensive experience has convinced me that the vast majority of professing Christians never give any serious consideration to the topic of prayer. Not merely do they not pray for the government, first, they scarcely pray for it at all! They pray more or less regularly for groups such as the sick, the preacher, missionaries, evangelists,....... anything and everything but the one group that God puts first, the government. It is no exaggeration to say that many who claim to be committed Christians never pray seriously for the government or their nation as much as once a week."
It was out of these observations and convictions that the vision for Prayer@Parliament was born some twenty years ago.