First Timothy 2:1-3 reminds us “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.” As we thank God for our government, we must also remember to continue praying for them as well. In the church’s prayers, we pray for the government’s health and wisdom in controlling the pandemic. I also urge you to pray for our government daily. The motive behind praying for our government is not only to ensure that lives return to normal, or for us to eat in restaurants in groups of more than 5 people. Of course, all these are important. But more importantly, when our government can properly govern the country and uphold justice, as Christians, it is easier for us to lead a God-fearing life, return back to pre-Covid church activities and start evangelising to others. Some may think this motivation for prayer is too narrow a scope. It is not. As Christians, we know that people change only with the help of the gospel, and that the gospel brings eternal benefits. When someone has Jesus as their saviour, their lives will change because of the gospel. This positive change in a person’s life will slowly influence their family and the society. We see many of these examples around us. These many examples prove that the gospel can bring about positive changes in our society. As such, only when our government is able to govern justly and when our evangelising efforts are not hindered, even a secular society like Singapore can be blessed by God because of the spiritual benefits the gospel brings to her citizens.

However, we must not only pray for the Singapore government. We also need to pray for other countries’ Christians and their governments because the choices other countries make can affect Singaporean Christians’ lives and the evangelism efforts. First, we need to pray that God will help other countries’ governments to uphold justice and not condone sin. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Prov 14:34). “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order” (Prov 28:2). In the past few weeks, we witnessed the changes in the Afghanistan government. They caused many of its citizens to flee the country. There have been news reports showing swarms of people flocking to the airport to flee the country. Only a handful, however, were successful. Those who stayed behind or were unable to leave, including local Christians and foreign missionaries, are living in constant fear of the future. The Christians who were originally already oppressed by the government are currently even in unimaginably worse situations because of the change in regime. The international community is afraid that this change in regime will set back the efforts in countering terrorism. For Christians in the faraway Singapore, however, religion will become an even more sensitive topic. We pray that God will protect Christians everywhere and help all governments rule justly. May Christians use the gospel to bring peace to those around them.

translated by Abigail Teo