提要
在保羅的時代裡，人民向皇帝祈求是常見的事。那個時代很多羅馬皇帝豎立偶像，用法律要強求人民崇拜他們。因此，為皇帝代求是一個非常激進與危險的觀念。
為「君王與一切在位的」祈求具有兩個重要的意義：（1）它暗示君王並不是神，而是人；及（2）在他們上面，有一位更高的權威，即使這個世界中的最高領袖也要向祂臣服。尤有甚者，從第四節來看，這些人需要救恩的程度，就像普通人一樣。
保羅非常看重祈禱。他認為祈禱是教會及國家的生命所繫。不論是國家的領袖，還是信徒本身，顯然都不是國家福祉的所繫，一個國家的福祉乃在於教會肯不肯為之祈禱。在為領袖祈禱時有一個微妙的地方。我們並非總是喜歡他們，也非總是同意他們的政策，但是我們還是要為他們祈禱，並非為了他們的政治生涯。我們要禱告：「您的旨意行在地上……」。換句話說，我們禱告，「上帝的待辦事項一一辦妥」──不是我們的事要成就，也非領袖們的事，而是上帝的事要成就。我們要祈求公平與正義。如果我們活得有公平，也有公義，我們最後就會發現：公義高舉邦國。
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| Key Verse: | "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."（1 Timothy 2:1,2） |
Overview
In the world of Paul's day, the common thing was to pray to emperors. Many Caesars of that time erected statues of themselves and required, by law, worship from their people. To pray for an emperor, therefore, was a radical and dangerous notion.
There were two critical implications in praying for "kings and all who are in authority": 1) it implied that kings were not deities, but human, and 2) there was some higher Deity to whom even this world's leaders were subject and accountable. What's more, in terms of verse four, these men were just as much in need of salvation as anyone else.
Paul had a high view of prayer. He saw it as a central aspect, both in the life of the church and in the life of nations. He linked it with decisions made "at the top" which would produce "a quiet and peaceable life" in everyday experience. Whether the nation's leaders were believers themselves apparently was not the issue. The issue was that a nation's welfare was inextricably tied to the prayerfulness or unprayerfulness of the church. There's a subtlety in praying for leaders. We don't always like them or agree with their policies, but we're to pray for the leader, not for his politics. We're to pray, "Thy will be done on earth..." In other words, we pray that God's agenda will be fulfilled — not our agenda, not the leader's agenda, but God's. We're to pray for justice and righteousness. And if we live justly and righteously, we will discover eventually that "righteousness exalts a nation".
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Prayer
Father, in accordance with Your Word, we pray for the leaders of our country and all who are in positions of authority, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. We pray both for their salvation and that You would direct them in leadership. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. |
