³This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Prayer for political peace paves the way for the spread of the gospel. So the apostle Paul urged Timothy to pray for governmental authorities in the previous two verses. This is “good and acceptable” to pray this way; that is God’s assessment. This is prayer that lines up with God’s will. And it is not the unique perspective of Paul only. Peter expresses the same truth:

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

To put it plainly, God wants all to be saved. Of course, this faces us with the mystery of God’s election of those who believe to salvation. Our puny minds struggle with how both these truths can coexist. Does God not make happen that which He desires? He can, but He does not always. He certainly desires that we do not sin, yet we all sin and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and we lie if we say we do not sin (1 John 1:8). Two truths that coexist—how is that? The answer lies in how we understand what it means that God “desires” something. This is what we would call His decretive will, that which He decrees to happen. Humankind is free to disobey that decretive will.

This is not to be confused with God’s ultimate or sovereign will, that which He makes to happen. For example, Peter referred to this in his Pentecost Day sermon, “Men of Israel . . . Jesus the Nazarene . . . delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:22–23). God’s overriding will worked through the lesser will of humans, who without realizing it played into God’s hand. The Lord has done this throughout Israel’s history, one notable example being that of using Pharaoh during the time leading up to the Exodus.

Through prayer, we tap into God’s heart-will to restore to Himself those made in His image. He is not emotionally detached, like an indifferent judge who renders a business-like “not guilty” verdict. The question remains, though: Is this our heart’s desire as well? Such motivation moves us to pray for political peace so that we can pursue what God desires. The psalmist tells us, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). When we pray this way, we are doing so according to God’s will (1 John 5:14).

Lord, I pray for our governing leaders so that we could continue to have the freedom to share the gospel.