Pray for Rulers/Leaders

Not against them. 
by Lance Wallnau

I had a chilling....I mean chilling realization last night. This week marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. I live in Dallas and can feel the strange wrestling between a religious spirit and the Spirit of God. This mighty city is a spiritual epicenter for Gods move. I believe the Lord was showing me something last night. The church is told to "pray for rulers and for everyone who has authority over us" (1 Tim 2:2) Why? -- "so that we can have a quiet and peaceful life" Evidently prayer for rulers has an effect on rulers and that has an effect on us. The outcome for us when we pray "for" rulers is - "a quiet and peaceable life." The death of JFK marked the turning point in America's "quiet and peaceable" history. After the assassination we entered a new era with campus and sexual revolt, glamorizing of rebellion and drug induced escapism in rock, along with the War in Vietnam. During this turbulent time we had race riots and the deaths of Martin Luther King and RFK. November 22, 1963 was the day that deflowered the mythology of Camelot that briefly captured the imagination of Americans in the young Kennedy house. The devil cannot be everywhere, but he is ALWAYS SOMEWHERE! On Nov 22, 1963 at 12:30 PM he was on the 6th floor in the School Book Depository in Dallas Texas. If prayer for rulers can be positive - HOW ABOUT PRAYER "AGAINST" RULERS? Does it have any influence? Praying to effect someone or something outside of love or the activity of Gods Spirit is not Biblical praying. It enters a realm of either "Psychic Prayers" (which effects you more than you know) or "Witchcraft." Thats right - Christians often move in witchcraft. These are prayers of manipulation and judgement born of the flesh but empowered oddly by our agreement." As I contemplated this I randomly ran into this quote in a Dallas 50th anniversary article; "JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS JUST DAYS from securing the 1960 Democratic nomination for president when Dr. W.A. Criswell strode, bible in hand, to the carved wooden altar of the mighty First Baptist Church in Dallas. Chopping the July air with disdain, he prophesied that the election of the Catholic Kennedy would “spell the death of a free church in a free state.” "The following week, when Kennedy was nominated on the first ballot, it came with an added sting for Criswell and other conservative Texans: Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, a son of the Hill Country, joined the ticket in the No. 2 spot. Dallas Rep. Bruce Alger, Texas’ lone Republican in Congress, called it a capitulation “to radical forces of the East and North.” With its own particular brew of affluence, fundamentalism and inflexibility, Dallas was the epicenter of incredible hatred and distortion regarding Kennedy. There was a strange atmosphere in Dallas and fears of an incident were ripe in the security detail. The Rev. Criswell added to this by releasing over 100,000 booklets against Kennedy, stirring anxiety about his Catholic agenda and links to the Vatican. Ridiculous fears, in light of our current understanding of the Kennedy White House. The President went in a vehicle with the roof uncovered and his head uncovered. The intercession of the church (Pentecostal as well as Fundamentalist) was largely praying "against" him - not "for" him, and removed the final covering. There was nothing good that came out of that death. In fact, many speculate that JFK had plans to de-escalate our involvement in Vietnam, where LBJ increased our engagement. Pray FOR rulers - not AGAINST them. The religious spirit is a mean spirit. It is political in nature. It is an aspect of Jezebel that most people miss. It is the combination of forces that caused John the Baptist to loose his head - caught somewhere between Herod's wife in her judgment of John and the seductive dance of her daughter. Does this make sense?

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