Prayer is the right of every Christian (Eph. 1:3). If one is outside of Christ their prayers cannot be accepted by God (John 9:31). We are the servants of Jesus the Christ and are therefore bound to abide by His will (Luke 9:36). Part of His will is that we pray for those in authority ( I Tim. 2:1,2). The reality is that we are to pray for all men and especially for those who have rule. The purpose of such prayers is to keep us connected to God in order that we might lead quiet and peaceable lives. Jeremiah told the Jews to seek the peace of the city where they would be carried to as captives (Jer. 29:7). If they were told to pray for Babylon, then Christians in any land should follow the example given by God and pray for those in authority.
Paul used his status as a Roman citizen to keep from being beaten on one occasion and delivered from some court of man which had no interest in justice. Christians then should be able to use existing laws to strengthen the idea of quiet and peaceable lives. We may suffer because we are Christians but never because we are the lawbreakers (I Peter 4:16). We would use, as Paul did< existing laws to maintain our way of life. The images from television of people rioting, looting, yea stealing are never things Christians would be involved in. It is because our citizenship is in heaven and Jesus is our King that we lead the kind of lives we do.
The first century world saw Christians being taken from the homes with out due process of law (Acts 8:3). They were said to be ones who had turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). They were a “sect” spoken everywhere against (Acts 28:22). Why this uproar in the first century? It was not Christians cutting off the heads of men, women and children. It was not because they were destroying the property of others. It was people being placed in prison, deprived of their rights and even put to death because they chose to follow Jesus the Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). We should pray, live, give and if necessary join our ancestors from the first century world and give up everything in order to win and keep Christ (Phil. 3:8).