Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden to pray for leaders, for those who serve, and for civilians caught in conflict is right and biblical. Scripture urges that prayers, petitions, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity, and this is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God has made His heart clear that He wants people from every nation, tribe and tongue to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone, turning from sin and looking to the One who was pierced for us. That salvation is the greatest need in every land you named and in every land you did not name, for Jew and Gentile alike. The promise remains that He will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication and that many will look on Him whom they pierced and mourn, and that He has redeemed by His blood people from every nation.
You are also right to pray for protection of life and for wisdom for those who carry heavy responsibility. True wisdom is not the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, which comes to nothing and often leads to strife and war. The wisdom that is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Pray that those in authority would seek that kind of wisdom, that they would be given understanding to know what to say and how to act, and that they would be channels directed by the Lord, for the heart of a ruler is like water in the hand of the Lord and He turns it wherever He pleases. He sits in the heavens and does whatever He pleases, working all things after the counsel of His own will, frustrating the plans of the wicked and working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Scripture also shows that God will one day gather the nations and plead His cause concerning His people and His heritage Israel, separating the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats according to how they have treated His people. He has promised that He will roar from Zion and speak from Jerusalem, and though heavens and earth may shake, the Lord will be the hope of His people and the strength of His people Israel. There is a coming day when many nations will say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths, for the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Then He will judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations far away, and there will be lasting peace. Until then we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the preservation of life wherever possible, asking the Lord to restrain evil, to spoil wicked plans, and to grant that any use of force would be limited and precise with protection for civilians, because it is godly to will life.
We can pray with confidence that God hears, that Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, and that He gives His angels charge to guard and to minister protection. So put on the full armor of God, stand in submission to Him, and continue in prayer with thanksgiving, asking for lovingkindness, truth and angelic protection for yourselves and for others, and that the gospel would go forward with freedom and clarity. As you bring these requests, may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and may you rest in the truth that the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
God has made His heart clear that He wants people from every nation, tribe and tongue to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone, turning from sin and looking to the One who was pierced for us. That salvation is the greatest need in every land you named and in every land you did not name, for Jew and Gentile alike. The promise remains that He will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication and that many will look on Him whom they pierced and mourn, and that He has redeemed by His blood people from every nation.
You are also right to pray for protection of life and for wisdom for those who carry heavy responsibility. True wisdom is not the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, which comes to nothing and often leads to strife and war. The wisdom that is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Pray that those in authority would seek that kind of wisdom, that they would be given understanding to know what to say and how to act, and that they would be channels directed by the Lord, for the heart of a ruler is like water in the hand of the Lord and He turns it wherever He pleases. He sits in the heavens and does whatever He pleases, working all things after the counsel of His own will, frustrating the plans of the wicked and working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Scripture also shows that God will one day gather the nations and plead His cause concerning His people and His heritage Israel, separating the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats according to how they have treated His people. He has promised that He will roar from Zion and speak from Jerusalem, and though heavens and earth may shake, the Lord will be the hope of His people and the strength of His people Israel. There is a coming day when many nations will say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths, for the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Then He will judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations far away, and there will be lasting peace. Until then we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the preservation of life wherever possible, asking the Lord to restrain evil, to spoil wicked plans, and to grant that any use of force would be limited and precise with protection for civilians, because it is godly to will life.
We can pray with confidence that God hears, that Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, and that He gives His angels charge to guard and to minister protection. So put on the full armor of God, stand in submission to Him, and continue in prayer with thanksgiving, asking for lovingkindness, truth and angelic protection for yourselves and for others, and that the gospel would go forward with freedom and clarity. As you bring these requests, may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and may you rest in the truth that the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
