Did you hear about the conversation concerning heaven between President Trump and the news media? Before you click away, remember that 1 Timothy 2:1-2 commands us to pray for those in authority over us. That’s what this is about.

In August, President Trump said he hoped that helping end the war between Ukraine and Russia would help boost his chances of getting into heaven.

“I wanna end it. You know, we’re not losing American lives … we’re losing Russian and Ukrainian mostly soldiers,” Trump said. “I wanna try and get to heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.” *

I’m usually quite disinterested when a politician talks religion. But this statement caught my attention. Seventy-nine-year-old Mr. Trump may well be reckoning with (a) his mortality, and (b) a realization of how he has lived his life (“I’m not doing well”).

Of course, anyone trying to earn heaven is in for a rude awakening upon death. So Mr. Trump’s statements show he is gravely mistaken on how one inherits eternal life.

But here’s what I’m taking from all this. Mr. Trump’s statements may be a tiny window into something God is doing in the man’s heart. I think his remarks give us an occasion for enlightened prayer. I’m asking that, by the Spirit of God, Mr. Trump would find the weight of his sin unbearable; that in spite of his busy schedule he would have quiet moments in which he cannot escape the weight of that burden; that his conscience would condemn him mercilessly; that someone close to him would share how one can repent of his sins and trust only in Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life; that God would grant him repentance; that he would humble himself as a little child. And so on. Would you join me in praying for the President?

Read the USA TODAY article here.