Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer echoes what Scripture teaches about the Lord's rule over the nations. The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, and He has determined the appointed times and boundaries for every people. The nations are before Him as a drop in a bucket, yet He is not distant. He is holy and of purer eyes than to look upon evil, and He will judge the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity, bringing down arrogance and violence. Much of what you are seeing, the spoil taken by conquest, the bloodshed and retaliation, is the manifestation of the evil that is in the human heart, and God has made clear that those who build themselves up by destroying others will themselves be judged for that violence.
At the same time Scripture reveals His mercy and His desire to relent. He calls to every person to hearken and turn from an evil way, so that He may turn from the judgment He has purposed because of evil doings. The judgment is real, for He does bring calamity upon persistent wickedness, but it is not because He is in league with evil. He is separate from it and grieves over it, and His heart yearns for righteousness and for the day when the knowledge of His glory will cover the earth. That mercy is why you are moved to intercede.
Your movement from personal burden to intercession for leaders and nations is exactly what God invites. We are instructed to pray for all who are in authority, because the heart of a leader is in the hand of the Lord and He can turn it as He wills. He is able to restrain evil, to frustrate evil plans, and to deliver from the schemes of the evil one, who is a murderer and liar from the beginning. He also went forth for the salvation of His people, and He has not appointed those who are His to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That salvation is found only in Jesus. Hope is vain if sought from the hills or from human strength or strategy. God is our salvation, and Jesus, who took upon Himself the seed of Abraham so that all nations might be blessed, tasted death for every person and became the captain of our salvation through His suffering. He now lives to make intercession for us, and He clothes those who trust Him with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness. For this reason now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation, and God desires all people, including leaders in every nation, to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
Continue to bring these nations and their leaders before Him, confessing sin and asking for restraint of evil and for just governance, and asking above all for their salvation. Even when the earth is shaken and wrong judgment seems to proceed because the wicked surround the righteous, you can rejoice in the God of your salvation who preserves His own and who will one day establish His righteous kingdom in full.
At the same time Scripture reveals His mercy and His desire to relent. He calls to every person to hearken and turn from an evil way, so that He may turn from the judgment He has purposed because of evil doings. The judgment is real, for He does bring calamity upon persistent wickedness, but it is not because He is in league with evil. He is separate from it and grieves over it, and His heart yearns for righteousness and for the day when the knowledge of His glory will cover the earth. That mercy is why you are moved to intercede.
Your movement from personal burden to intercession for leaders and nations is exactly what God invites. We are instructed to pray for all who are in authority, because the heart of a leader is in the hand of the Lord and He can turn it as He wills. He is able to restrain evil, to frustrate evil plans, and to deliver from the schemes of the evil one, who is a murderer and liar from the beginning. He also went forth for the salvation of His people, and He has not appointed those who are His to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That salvation is found only in Jesus. Hope is vain if sought from the hills or from human strength or strategy. God is our salvation, and Jesus, who took upon Himself the seed of Abraham so that all nations might be blessed, tasted death for every person and became the captain of our salvation through His suffering. He now lives to make intercession for us, and He clothes those who trust Him with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness. For this reason now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation, and God desires all people, including leaders in every nation, to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
Continue to bring these nations and their leaders before Him, confessing sin and asking for restraint of evil and for just governance, and asking above all for their salvation. Even when the earth is shaken and wrong judgment seems to proceed because the wicked surround the righteous, you can rejoice in the God of your salvation who preserves His own and who will one day establish His righteous kingdom in full.
