"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity."
(1 Tim 2:1-2 NLT)
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike." (Matt 5:43-45 NLT)
There are things that seem foolish and downright “hard to swallow” in the Bible. The two passages above are among the hardest to obey for many of us. But, I feel that Abba wants to help us see that these heart attitudes and prayers are additive, not subtractive to our life.
Its also clear that these directions can only be embraced when our spirit is in communion with God’s Spirit (see 1 Corinthians chapter 2).
There are Bible stories that help us see the value of praying for leaders – and enemies more clearly. I'm inspired by Daniel’s attitude towards Nebuchadnezzar and by Joseph’s attitude towards his brothers and towards Pharaoh.
There are modern stories too. Last month (October 2012) was the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. As more of the background truths have emerged from that very scary time, we’ve learned how the courage of two men – one a leader of our nation and one an enemy submariner - saved us from nuclear destruction. And yes, I believe that God’s Spirit empowered that courage. And I also believe that God involved willing intercessors to agree with Him….
President John F. Kennedy gathered his “ExComm” to discuss and debate what to do next. After aerial photos revealed there were Soviet nuclear missile sites being built on Cuba, the U.S. implemented a “quarantine” around Cuba – to try to keep further military supplies out. The US prepared for an invasion of the island nation. Private communications from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev indicated that he was fearful of the awful destruction of nuclear weapons. Mr. Khrushchev had lived through the horrors of World War II. But his public communication was more forceful – and demanded the removal of the U.S. nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey.
Every one of President Kennedy’s ExComm advised him to invade immediately. But the U.S. did not know that there were battle-ready tactical nuclear weapons already stationed on Cuba. An invasion would trigger their use – and then nuclear retaliation….
Both President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev were aware that once any shooting or bombing started, things could escalate quickly out of their ability to control.
But President Kennedy refused the pressure of his advisors and offered a secret deal via the Soviet UN Ambassador. The US agreed to remove our missiles from Turkey in the future in return for the Soviets immediately removing their nuclear missiles from Cuba. We would not publically acknowledge this part of the deal, but Kennedy would publicly promise that the US would never invade Cuba. Thankfully Mr. Khrushchev believed Kennedy, took the deal and began removing the nuclear missiles. (Whew!)
The other story was about one of four Soviet submarines sent to the Caribbean to support the struggle over Cuba. Each one carried a newly developed nuclear torpedo. And each captain was given authority (as long as their second in command agreed) to use those torpedoes if necessary without further Kremlin instructions….
The US fleet was energetically searching for any Soviet subs. They had developed systems and processes for this very issue – and now they could show their capacities. They located a Soviet sub (B-29) and began to “ping” it loudly. They then started using “practice” depth charges to “encourage” it to surface.
Inside B-29, things were desperate. The batteries (it was a diesel electric submarine) were down to 5%. The A/C couldn’t work, so the temperatures were unbearable. The oxygen was running low. The pinging and the depth charges were also unbearable. With no new directions, the captain and his second-in command decided to go through the steps to use the nuclear torpedo against the US fleet.
But God. But God had another leader on board that submarine. Vasili Arkhipov had been the executive officer on K-19 when its nuclear reactor failed. He had seen the men die of radiation poisoning. He had braved the radiation himself to try to save the sub. While he was equal in rank to the captain, Vasili was also commander of that fleet of four Soviet submarines. Vasili ordered them to stop preparing to use the nuclear torpedo – and the captain grudgingly obeyed. The submarine surfaced and began running it’s diesel engines. The US fleet made no attempt to detain or board the Soviet sub.
Thomas Blanton (then director of the National Security Archive) said in 2002: "a guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world."
Sometimes, what doesn't happen - makes all the difference. There is a very high probability that most of us would not be here today if either of those two men (Kennedy and Arkhipov) had decided differently....
Further thoughts: Although it can feel diminishing to pray for leaders we don’t agree with or to pray for - and somehow love our enemies; our Dad does not see it that way. As the scriptures quoted above teach; praying for leaders increases our likelihood of living peaceful lives. And loving and praying for our enemies shows that we are living from our Heavenly Father’s values. This is only possible when our identity as sons and daughters is securely anchored in Daddy God’s love for us.
Here is something to consider: How much spiritual authority and influence can Papa trust us with - if we live opposed to some of His core values? I believe that this is why we’re called to stop letting narrow self-protection control our lives – and live by communion with Father God’s Spirit instead.
Gratefully,
Russ Fochler
P.S. Much of my information came from these two PBS videos:
“Three Men Go To War” http://video.pbs.org/video/2289498535/
“The Man Who Saved The World” (Secrets of the Dead)
You can read more from the Wikipedia articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_missile_crisis
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