Prayers for the President

What does it mean to “pray for the President”?

The first time I recall praying for the President was around August 1990. That month, the United States led an international coalition into a war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. I recall that on the day the news announced that U.S. forces were engaging in combat, our church held a special prayer service. I listened to our elders pray for God to guide and protect President George Bush as he led our country to war.

Over the last 30 years, I can recall periods when the Christians in my life devoted a lot of prayer to the President. I can also recall stretches of time when the Christians in my life barely mentioned the President at all.

My observation is that the Christians in my life tended to pray for the President when they liked him, but not when they disliked him.

So, again, what does it mean to “pray for the President?”

Or, put another way: When we pray for the President, do we pray for the office or for the person in the office?

I think it is both.

But I think it is more important to pray for the office itself.

Why?

Because the office of the President represents the people of the United States. All 328 million of them.

Congress also represents the people of the United States, but each member of Congress is elected by one small group of those people. I chuckle when I see people post that we should get rid of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I want to say: “That’s not our call. That is up to the people of California’s 12th district. As long as they choose Ms. Pelosi to represent them in Congress, she will be their representative. The rest of us don’t get to tell the citizens of the 12th district who to hire to go to Washington for them.”

But the office of the President is different. Theodore Roosevelt popularized the idea that the President is elected by all of the American people and is, therefore, the one person in the federal government who truly represents all of the American people. A big job!

I’ll never forget something that my junior high U.S. history teacher, Mr. Conwell, taught me: The President is both chief executive and head of state. What does that mean?

First, it means the president executes the business of the people. Under our Constitution, Congress passes laws and the President executes them. Theodore Roosevelt expanded what it means to be the “chief executive.” He believed the Constitution gave him power to act on his own in the interests of the people. The Presidency as we know it today started with Roosevelt’s interpretation of the Constitution. That is: The President represents all of the American people and has power to act on their behalf when the situation calls for it. To learn more about President Roosevelt’s vision of the executive office, look up the Coal Strike of 1902.

The President is more than the chief executive; he is also “head of state.” Meaning, he is the ceremonial and you could say spiritual representative of the American people. Mr. Conwell explained it like this: In the United Kingdom, Parliament makes laws, the Prime Minister (chief executive) executes them, and the Queen is head of state. The Queen is to represent the best of the British people. She is (literally) their spiritual leader.

The U.S. Constitution combines the roles of chief executive and head of state in the Presidency. So the President is responsible for representing all of the American people. In that capacity, he calls them to the best version of themselves while modeling it himself (head of state) and he executes the laws that will prosper and protect the people (chief executive).

So, above all, the people pray (to God as they understand him) for the Office of the President to do well by the people. When the Office of the President does its best work, it does it for the people–all 328 million of them. Let’s not forget: The executive branch is now, by far, the biggest branch of the federal government. It is so deep and so wide and touches the lives of Americans in so many ways that we must pray for it to do well. In this context, “prayers for the President” are really prayers for the 4 million federal employees who work in the executive branch. “Bureaucrats” get a bad rap, but those public servants are doing work that is life or death for a lot of us. We must keep all of them in prayer, whether or not we like the person who occupies the Oval Office.

Over the last few years, my prayers have turned more and more to the everyday people who go to work in the executive branch. We don’t know their faces and names, but we do know and value their work.

But when we pray for the President, we also pray for the person who occupies the office. I pray for the spirit of discernment and wisdom, no matter who is President. The President is at the top of an organization that employs 4 million people of great consequence to their 324 million fellow Americans. I doesn’t matter whether I like the President or not, I like what those 4 million executive branch employees do for the country. So, I pray that what the President chooses to do with those public servants will be good and wise.

And, like it or not, the executive branch (thanks to Theodore Roosevelt) now makes laws (executive orders) that affect the lives of millions of Americans. Once again, it doesn’t matter whether I like the President. I pray for discernment and wisdom to make laws that are good for all Americans (since he is to represent all Americans).

I pray for the President’s public success insofar as it doesn’t take second place to his personal success. A President can enjoy the personal benefit of the office so long as it is a “fringe benefit” of the success he brings about for most Americans. So, I do not pray for the President’s personal success; I pray that he makes the public’s success personal.

Nor are my prayers for the President a “blank check.” The President is my employee. I am one member of a board of directors with 328 million other members. Along with me, we hire and fire the President according to how well he does the job we hire him to do. As someone who has fired employees, I can sincerely wish them well while telling them that they don’t have what it takes to do the job. I have prayed for people at the very moment that I’m showing them the door.

So, I can–and should–pray for the President for the good of the public he represents and serves. But that does not mean I cannot, at the same time, dismiss the President from duty if I find someone better for the job.

I tried to write this in such a way that everyone can find something agreeable about it. If you couldn’t stand President Obama, I hope you can see yourself praying for him the way that I described here. If you can’t stand President Trump, I hope you can see yourself praying for him the same way.

Which brings me to President Trump’s COVID diagnosis on October 1.

We should never hope ill on anyone. I have been saying for years now that Christians, of all people, pray for their enemies. If you are a Christian and you think of the President as your enemy, start praying for him! It’s the Way of Christ that you follow.

And, as a citizen, keep praying for the Office of the Presidency and all of the people who work in the executive branch. When the person at the top of the org chart is in doubt, it affects everyone on down the line. So many of your fellow Americans depend on the executive branch working well that you need to be in prayer for calm and stability.

If you believe the President is not up to the job and you want to cast your vote to dismiss him, you can still pray for him. Prayers for the President are not the same thing as endorsing him or voting for him. You will still have your chance to let him go.

Final word: If the President is the representative of We the People, then prayers for the President should extend to all of the people. If you think of the President as your enemy, don’t let your prayers for him stop at the Oval Office door. Pray, also, for all of the fellow Americans that you think of as enemies. This is the Way of Christ. As you pray for healing for the President, pray for healing of the people of this nation, too. As you pray for discernment and wisdom for the President, pray also that the American people will be discerning and wise.

So today, pray for the President.