President Trump diagnosed with vein condition

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday that President Trump has been diagnosed with a “benign and common” vein condition known as chronic venous insufficiency.

According to Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic, this condition occurs when veins in the legs struggle to allow blood to flow back up to the heart. According the Leavitt, the president underwent a thorough health examination after noticing mild swelling in his legs. The exam revealed no evidence of more serious conditions like deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease; according to the president’s physician, he remains in excellent overall health.

“In all other things we gladly serve you”

Like everything else in our partisan culture, you’re probably reading this story through the lens of your previous beliefs about Mr. Trump. That’s not only understandable but inevitable. We cannot avoid having presuppositions. But we can identify them and then seek to view the world more objectively through the prism of objective biblical truth.

For example, Scripture says, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:1–2). You might object that this is hard to do if you object to the “kings” for whom you are to pray. But bear in mind that Paul, the apostle who wrote these words about Nero, was later beheaded at the command of Nero.

Peter similarly taught us to “honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17), even though the emperor was this same Nero, and Peter would eventually be crucified upside down by the Empire. Justin the Martyr (AD 100–65) similarly described his fellow believers to Emperor Titus:

Everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavor to pay to those appointed to you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by [Christ]. . .  Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment (First Apology 17).

Justin was later beheaded for his faith.

Praying for “all who are in high positions”

Praying for leaders with whom we agree is vital. We should pray for God to guide them, protect them, and use their leadership for his glory. And we should pray for ways to join them in advancing the common good.

Praying for leaders with whom we disagree might be even more vital. We should pray for God to lead them to truth as we understand it. And we should pray for ways to engage the issues about which we are concerned with biblical truth and redemptive service.

So, wherever you fall on the partisan spectrum, let me ask you to pray today for President Trump. As you intercede for his health and service, expand your prayers to include “all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:2). And resolve to offer such intercession daily for our leaders and our nation.

When we pray in this way, several results follow.

• We gain the heart of God for those who lead us. As we pray, the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) forms us, and we receive insight from the Spirit about the objects of our prayers.
• We manifest the compassion and character of Christ for our leaders and our fellow citizens. The Bible forbids slander (cf. Psalm 101:5; Proverbs 10:18). We are to speak to those with whom we disagree rather than about them (Matthew 18:15). Intercession helps us obey these biblical truths, since it is difficult to hate those for whom we pray.
• Our intercession guides our personal engagement. After the disciples prayed for God to
  “send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), they found themselves sent by Christ as the answers to their prayers (Matthew 10). As the only salt and light in our broken world, our compassion and ministry are crucial to the flourishing of our communities and nation (Matthew 5:13–16). Praying for our leaders often points the way to joining them in serving others.

“Prayer is our partnership with God”

We know that praying changes us as we come into contact with God and his Spirit makes us more like his Son (Romans 8:29). However, I wish I could explain more fully why praying for our leaders and others changes them and the world.

Since God is all-knowing, he already knows their needs before we pray about them (Matthew 6:8). Since he is all-loving, he must always do what is best for people whether we pray for them or not, or so we would think. Since he is all-powerful, our prayers cannot coerce him to do what he does not otherwise wish to do.

And yet we are told over and over to pray: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God” (Philippians 4:6, my emphasis). Jesus called us to “ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7); the Greek means, “ask and keep on asking.” In fact, we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

And we know from Scripture and history that when we pray, God responds. He heals the sick, calms the storm, defeats the enemy, and raises the dead.

The good news is that we don’t have to understand his ways to trust them (Isaiah 55:8–9). We can intercede for our leaders in the knowledge that we are obeying our Father and participating in his work of advancing his kingdom in our world.

EM Bounds believed, “God shapes the world through prayer. The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.” 

It has been said,

“Prayer is our partnership with God in transforming history.”

Will you join this partnership today?