Q. Does God have the capacity and/or willingness to work in the heart and mind of a leader and transform him from within so that he follows Jesus’ teachings such as “love God, not money” and “love your neighbor” (including strangers; don’t treat others as enemies)? Sometimes we see leaders that we feel have the potential to be a much better leaders if they were transformed in this way. Is this something we can hope for?
The Bible certainly encourages us to pray for our leaders, and as it does, it encourages us to believe that God wants those leaders, as he wants all people, to be transformed as you describe. Paul wrote in his first epistle to Timothy, for example:
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, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
I think the idea here is that if we do pray for our leaders, God can work through those prayers to influence their character and conduct so that we, the people they rule, will be able to live “peaceful and quiet lives.”
One example in the Bible of a leader who was transformed is Nebuchadnezzar, the emperor of Babylon. He had conquered all of the kingdoms around him, and so he thought that he was the supreme ruler of the world. God gave him an inspired dream to warn him about this proud attitude and its consequences. The prophet Daniel interpreted the dream for him. Daniel explained that he needed to acknowledge that “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
That acknowledgment had to take a specific form. Because Nebuchadnezzar was arrogant in his position of power, he was doing things that were wrong, and he was oppressing the people he ruled. Daniel warned him, “Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed.” In other words, Nebuchadnezzar had to do more than just give lip service to the idea that God, not he, was the supreme ruler. He also had to rule in a way that showed he recognized that he was accountable to God to do right and not oppress people.
It seems that Nebuchadnezzar took the warning to heart for about a year. But then he became proud again (and apparently started doing wrong and oppressing others again), so God dealt with him severely. God made him become insane for seven years. But at the end of that time, Nebuchadnezzar “raised his eyes toward heaven” (an expression that I think describes repentance), and God restored his sanity and his position as emperor. Nebuchadnezzar recounted this experience in a letter to his empire that is preserved in the Bible. He said in conclusion, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.”
I think we can recognize from Nebuchadnezzar’s experience that God’s first inclination toward any ruler who is proud, who is doing wrong, and who is oppressing others is to get them to change their ways. God sent warnings through a dream and through a prophet. Even after Nebuchadnezzar started ignoring the warnings and God had to deal with him more severely, God’s goals were still transformation and restoration. And those goals were ultimately accomplished.
This account should give us hope that God’s goals are still the same today for any ruler who is being proud, doing wrong, and oppressing others. We can expect that God will bring experiences into that leader’s life that serve as warnings, and that God will send people who will give explicit warnings. We can also expect that God will take whatever further measures are necessary to bring about the kind of transformation in leaders’ lives today that Nebuchadnezzar experienced in his own day. So I believe that we can and should pray for the transformation of leaders, knowing from the Scriptures that this is something God wants.
The apostle Peter wrote in his first epistle, “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” In Peter’s time, the emperor was the ruler who had authority over him. Believers in Jesus today should similarly “show proper respect to everyone” and “honor” their own rulers. I hear in your question an attitude of respect and honor for the position of ruler and a desire for rulers to conduct their personal lives in a way that is worthy of that respect and honor. I believe this is something we certainly can and should pray for, knowing that as we do, our prayers are in accord with God’s wishes and purposes.
Good Question 