Silas
Beloved of All
Your heart to pray for those in authority and for the nations reflects what Scripture calls us to do. We are urged to make petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. That is not only a duty but a privilege, and it is right to thank God for the authorities He has allowed to be in place, while asking Him to guide them.
Prayer rests on relationship. Through faith in Jesus Christ alone we are brought into the family of God and can truly say Father, and that relationship opens the way to pray with confidence. Apart from that, the one prayer God seeks is for mercy as a sinner, which establishes the relationship. Once we are His children, prayer is not a means to make God do our will. It begins with God and His purposes, which He puts on our hearts, and we return those purposes to Him in prayer. In that way prayer opens the door for God to do what He already desires to do, without violating the will He has given us. For that reason we are told to continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving, moving from request to deeper pleading to intercession and then to thanks. It is not length or eloquence that makes prayer effective. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often short, but the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful because it comes from the heart and aligns with God.
Jesus Himself showed the necessity and power of prayer, often withdrawing to pray for strength and guidance. If the Son of God lived that way, how much more do we need to depend on prayer. And prayer is meant to come first, not last. It should precede wise and careful action, not replace it. We pray and then we also act with prudence as God leads.
In that spirit we join you in praying for national and world leaders. We ask God to grant them wisdom, intelligence and integrity, to guard their lips and give them the tongue of the wise, to surround them with godly counsel, and to lead them to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. We pray against division and the schemes of the enemy, and ask for unity where it serves righteousness and the good of peoples, remembering that God can give the nations as an inheritance to His Son. We pray that leaders and citizens alike would humble themselves, seek His face, turn from evil, and that falsehood would be silenced.
We also pray for your own region and neighborhood as you have asked. We ask that God would seek the welfare of the city where you live, and that the Holy Spirit would convict neighbors, students, teachers, workers, parents, pastors, law enforcement and all who live there of sin, righteousness and judgment to come, and draw them to Jesus. Salvation is by grace through faith in Him, as we hear the Word and believe, for God desires all to come to repentance and to be saved. We ask for His protection to be like a wall of fire around your area and your families, and for His care over this site and over believers both new and older, that His presence would be known and His angels would guard according to His promise.
For provision we thank God for daily bread and ask Him to supply what is needed with contentment, for godliness with contentment is great gain. We ask Him to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in your life, especially love, joy and peace, and to restore what has been lost, giving gladness and hope as only He can.
And we remember the persecuted church, those in chains and those suffering for their faith, asking for their relief, strength and release where it is His will, and we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for all the descendants of Abraham.
May all these prayers be aligned with His will, that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom we have access to the Father and in whose name alone salvation is found.
Prayer rests on relationship. Through faith in Jesus Christ alone we are brought into the family of God and can truly say Father, and that relationship opens the way to pray with confidence. Apart from that, the one prayer God seeks is for mercy as a sinner, which establishes the relationship. Once we are His children, prayer is not a means to make God do our will. It begins with God and His purposes, which He puts on our hearts, and we return those purposes to Him in prayer. In that way prayer opens the door for God to do what He already desires to do, without violating the will He has given us. For that reason we are told to continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving, moving from request to deeper pleading to intercession and then to thanks. It is not length or eloquence that makes prayer effective. The prayers recorded in Scripture are often short, but the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful because it comes from the heart and aligns with God.
Jesus Himself showed the necessity and power of prayer, often withdrawing to pray for strength and guidance. If the Son of God lived that way, how much more do we need to depend on prayer. And prayer is meant to come first, not last. It should precede wise and careful action, not replace it. We pray and then we also act with prudence as God leads.
In that spirit we join you in praying for national and world leaders. We ask God to grant them wisdom, intelligence and integrity, to guard their lips and give them the tongue of the wise, to surround them with godly counsel, and to lead them to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. We pray against division and the schemes of the enemy, and ask for unity where it serves righteousness and the good of peoples, remembering that God can give the nations as an inheritance to His Son. We pray that leaders and citizens alike would humble themselves, seek His face, turn from evil, and that falsehood would be silenced.
We also pray for your own region and neighborhood as you have asked. We ask that God would seek the welfare of the city where you live, and that the Holy Spirit would convict neighbors, students, teachers, workers, parents, pastors, law enforcement and all who live there of sin, righteousness and judgment to come, and draw them to Jesus. Salvation is by grace through faith in Him, as we hear the Word and believe, for God desires all to come to repentance and to be saved. We ask for His protection to be like a wall of fire around your area and your families, and for His care over this site and over believers both new and older, that His presence would be known and His angels would guard according to His promise.
For provision we thank God for daily bread and ask Him to supply what is needed with contentment, for godliness with contentment is great gain. We ask Him to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in your life, especially love, joy and peace, and to restore what has been lost, giving gladness and hope as only He can.
And we remember the persecuted church, those in chains and those suffering for their faith, asking for their relief, strength and release where it is His will, and we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for all the descendants of Abraham.
May all these prayers be aligned with His will, that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom we have access to the Father and in whose name alone salvation is found.
