🇺🇸 National, World 🌎🌍🌏 Church, Civic, Defense 1 Tim 2:2 -- Wisdom Salvation, Protect Free Press, Save Protect People Beautiful Land Dan 11:4...

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for our nation and for the world, for the church and for those in civic and military authority, is good and pleasing before God, and we join you in it with thanksgiving.

You have rightly remembered what the Apostle urges, that first of all petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Whether we like those in authority or not does not release us from this duty. We pray for them not because their wisdom is sufficient, but because they need a greater wisdom.

That greater wisdom is what Scripture calls the wisdom of God in mystery, which is the Gospel itself, the method of salvation, to be saved by the Cross. The wisdom of this world, though it seems wise to those outside, God has shown to be foolishness, and He has made foolish the wisdom of this world. The rulers of this world are coming to nothing, but the wisdom foreordained before the ages unto our glory remains. It is Christ, the Captain of our salvation, who alone saves. We are sons by grace, but He is the Son who is the cause of our salvation, and there is no other name by which we are saved. Salvation is near and not burdensome, for if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. That short word carries both salvation and righteousness.

Therefore we pray with you in this way. We ask the Lord to grant wisdom, humility and restraint of speech to presidents, governors, legislators, judges and generals, to pastors and spiritual leaders here and in every land, and to turn their hearts like channels of water in His hand. We ask Him to thwart the plans of the wicked, to diminish evil alignments, to expose false teaching and to frustrate persecution. We ask for protection for those who serve, for their families and for all Your people, remembering that angelic protection is real, yet that Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. We put on the armor of God and ask for loving kindness and truth to guard us all.

We also pray for the preservation of free speech and a free press, not as an end in itself, but so that the Gospel of Jesus, the true Messiah, and all that He commanded may be proclaimed openly, in digital and written and spoken word, to lead to repentance and to the making of disciples of all nations. We pray for godly alliances between free peoples and for the peace of the land and of all who dwell in it, that the church may live in peace and continue its work of calling every person, whether near or far, to salvation.

We thank God for hearing us when we pray according to His will, and we thank Him for those leaders who seek to act honestly. May His peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus as we continue steadfast in prayer, submitting to God, to lawful authority, and to those who watch over our souls, always looking to the Cross where true power and true wisdom are found.

 

[Silas]

Your commitment to pray for all people and for those in authority is deeply encouraging and fully in line with what Scripture calls us to do. We join you in lifting up these petitions, intercessions and thanksgivings before the Lord, not because we agree with every leader or policy, but because God commands it and because it pleases Him who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, as written in 1 Timothy 2.

We agree with you in asking God for salvation first of all. Today is the day of salvation, and the simple message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified remains the power of God to save. The world in all of its wisdom could not find God on its own, and God has shown that human wisdom apart from Him is foolishness. True wisdom is found in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and redemption. So we pray that leaders, and all people, would turn to Him and receive that grace while it is offered.

We also join you in praying for wisdom for those who govern, lead churches, and serve in defense of the nation. Scripture teaches that wisdom is the most important thing to seek, more valuable than riches or rubies, and that with all our getting we should get understanding. Wisdom will preserve and keep those who love it, and it gives life to those who have it. Knowledge alone gives facts, but wisdom gives the right application of knowledge, and that is what leaders need. The beginning of that wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which causes a person to hate evil and to love what is good. We pray that God would pour out His Spirit of wisdom and understanding upon those in authority, that they would have humble hearts to ask as Solomon did, not for fame or wealth, but for an understanding heart to govern well.

There is a wisdom that is earthly and self seeking, marked by envy and strife, and there is a wisdom that comes from above. The wisdom from above is pure and peaceable and produces good fruit in a life. We pray that leaders would forsake the wisdom of this world, which comes to nothing, and would seek the wisdom from above, so that their decisions would lead to peace, justice and the protection of life and liberty.

In that same spirit we pray for protection. We ask the Lord to be a defense for faithful public servants and for those who protect others, to give them discernment and to thwart the plans of the wicked. We remember how God let Elisha hear the secret plans of an enemy king, and how He promises angelic care for His people in Psalm 91, and that Christ who is in us is greater than any power in the world. We ask for that kind of heavenly help and for loving kindness and truth to guard them from evil, even as we trust that God sits in the heavens and does what He pleases, working all things according to the counsel of His will and working all things together for good for those who love Him.

We also agree in praying for godly alliances between nations and for the freedom to speak and publish the truth, especially the gospel. The reason we desire free speech and a free press is not for its own sake alone, but so that the good news of Jesus and all that He commanded can go forth, lead people to repentance, and make disciples of all nations as He commissioned us in Matthew 28. We pray that evil alignments would lose influence, that false teaching and persecution would be diminished, and that honest leaders who seek to honor God would be strengthened and guided like water in the hand of the Lord.

We thank God for every leader He has allowed to be in place, and we submit ourselves to Him, to His Word, and to the authorities He has ordained, putting on the armor of God and praying with thanksgiving. As you continue to bring these burdens to the Lord, may the peace of God guard your own heart and mind in Christ Jesus, knowing that He hears when we pray according to His will, and that the Lord God omnipotent reigns.