Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a biblical burden and it is good to bring it to the Lord in this way. To intercede for nations, for those in authority, for honesty and justice, and for the peace and salvation of Israel is exactly what Scripture calls us to do.
God is sovereign over all nations. He has made every people and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live, as Acts 17 says. The nations are before Him as a drop in a bucket, as dust on the scales, as Isaiah 40 declares. Nothing is outside His rule, and no plan of man or of the enemy can finally stand against His purpose. That is why we can pray with confidence for Him to restrain evil, to expose and intercept wicked schemes, as He did when He revealed the plans of the king of Syria to Elisha and when He warned David of what Saul intended.
There is a spiritual conflict behind the unrest we see. Daniel 10 shows that there are spiritual powers at work behind the affairs of nations, and that prayer engages that battle. You are right to ask the Lord to bind the spirit of retaliation and violence and to push back the influence of the evil one upon leaders and strategists. Praise and worship are part of that warfare, for the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and has used worship to bring deliverance, as when David played and the distressing spirit departed from Saul. From the rising of the sun to its setting, His name is to be praised, and that praise itself declares His authority over darkness.
You are also praying as 1 Timothy 2 instructs, for all who are in authority, that God would lead them away from temptation and deliver them from evil, as Jesus taught us to pray. We are not unaware of the enemy's schemes. He is a murderer and liar from the beginning, and he seeks to deceive and destroy. So we pray that leaders would be guided, restrained from evil, and above all that they would come to salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for that is God's desire, that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Your concern for honest elections is rooted in the character of God. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but accurate weights delight Him. To ask for integrity in how votes are counted and power is exercised is to ask for righteousness to be upheld in the land, which God loves.
Your prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of Israel is close to the heart of God. Scripture tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and promises that those who love her will prosper. Jerusalem is the place of God's throne and judgment, and His eye is upon it. God has also promised a glorious future when the Lord will reign in righteousness and peace from Jerusalem, and the nations will come there to learn His ways and walk in His paths. At the same time, the prophets warn that God will gather the nations and judge them for how they have treated His people Israel, separating them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. This is why it matters that we stand with and pray for His ancient people, and why Romans 10 gives us the pattern to pray earnestly that Israel would be saved through faith in Jesus the Messiah. At present a veil lies over many eyes, over Israel and over the nations, but God has promised to remove that covering and to bring understanding through Christ, in whom alone there is peace with God through His blood. Only when we have peace with God can we know the peace of God in our hearts, a perfect peace for the mind that is stayed on Him.
Your calling in this is beautiful. As a holy nation and royal priesthood, we are to be helpers in intercession, imitating our Lord who ever lives to make intercession for us, the visible image of the invisible God who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. As you pray, continue to confess your own sins and the sins of the nation, as Daniel did, and to bring these great matters that are beyond our strength before the throne. The Lord has given His people authority in Christ to tread on the power of the enemy, yet our greatest rejoicing is not in authority but in salvation, that our names are written in heaven. He will in due time fully bind the evil one with a great chain, as Revelation 20 shows, and even now He restrains him in answer to prayer.
Keep lifting up these nations, their leaders, and the household of Israel to the Lord. He hears, He rules, and He will answer according to His perfect will. Thank you for taking this burden to Him in Jesus' name.
God is sovereign over all nations. He has made every people and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live, as Acts 17 says. The nations are before Him as a drop in a bucket, as dust on the scales, as Isaiah 40 declares. Nothing is outside His rule, and no plan of man or of the enemy can finally stand against His purpose. That is why we can pray with confidence for Him to restrain evil, to expose and intercept wicked schemes, as He did when He revealed the plans of the king of Syria to Elisha and when He warned David of what Saul intended.
There is a spiritual conflict behind the unrest we see. Daniel 10 shows that there are spiritual powers at work behind the affairs of nations, and that prayer engages that battle. You are right to ask the Lord to bind the spirit of retaliation and violence and to push back the influence of the evil one upon leaders and strategists. Praise and worship are part of that warfare, for the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and has used worship to bring deliverance, as when David played and the distressing spirit departed from Saul. From the rising of the sun to its setting, His name is to be praised, and that praise itself declares His authority over darkness.
You are also praying as 1 Timothy 2 instructs, for all who are in authority, that God would lead them away from temptation and deliver them from evil, as Jesus taught us to pray. We are not unaware of the enemy's schemes. He is a murderer and liar from the beginning, and he seeks to deceive and destroy. So we pray that leaders would be guided, restrained from evil, and above all that they would come to salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for that is God's desire, that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Your concern for honest elections is rooted in the character of God. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but accurate weights delight Him. To ask for integrity in how votes are counted and power is exercised is to ask for righteousness to be upheld in the land, which God loves.
Your prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of Israel is close to the heart of God. Scripture tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and promises that those who love her will prosper. Jerusalem is the place of God's throne and judgment, and His eye is upon it. God has also promised a glorious future when the Lord will reign in righteousness and peace from Jerusalem, and the nations will come there to learn His ways and walk in His paths. At the same time, the prophets warn that God will gather the nations and judge them for how they have treated His people Israel, separating them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. This is why it matters that we stand with and pray for His ancient people, and why Romans 10 gives us the pattern to pray earnestly that Israel would be saved through faith in Jesus the Messiah. At present a veil lies over many eyes, over Israel and over the nations, but God has promised to remove that covering and to bring understanding through Christ, in whom alone there is peace with God through His blood. Only when we have peace with God can we know the peace of God in our hearts, a perfect peace for the mind that is stayed on Him.
Your calling in this is beautiful. As a holy nation and royal priesthood, we are to be helpers in intercession, imitating our Lord who ever lives to make intercession for us, the visible image of the invisible God who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. As you pray, continue to confess your own sins and the sins of the nation, as Daniel did, and to bring these great matters that are beyond our strength before the throne. The Lord has given His people authority in Christ to tread on the power of the enemy, yet our greatest rejoicing is not in authority but in salvation, that our names are written in heaven. He will in due time fully bind the evil one with a great chain, as Revelation 20 shows, and even now He restrains him in answer to prayer.
Keep lifting up these nations, their leaders, and the household of Israel to the Lord. He hears, He rules, and He will answer according to His perfect will. Thank you for taking this burden to Him in Jesus' name.
