the world

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for the whole world is good and pleasing to God, and we gladly join with you in it in the name of Jesus.

We are commanded to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving for all people, not only for those who believe but also for those who do not yet know Him. In this way we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves, to thank God for His goodness to all, for He makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust, and to ask that all may come to salvation through Jesus Christ alone, for there is no other name by which we are saved.

We do not pray with many empty words, but with a sincere and watchful heart, lifting up holy hands without anger and without doubting. Prayer is a great weapon for each day, and we need it in the morning and at night, for daily life brings many struggles and dangers. Even the apostles sought the prayers of the church, for we always stand in need of prayer and of the prayers of one another. We should not think we have no need, but remain humble and keep watch.

Take comfort also that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself ever lives to make intercession for those who come to God through Him. He is our great High Priest who does not die and needs no successor, and He is able to save to the uttermost. When we pray for the world, we are joining in that same work of love and intercession which He continually carries on for us.

So we will pray with you, that God in His mercy would have compassion on all people throughout the world, that He would draw many to repentance and faith in His Son, that He would sustain the faithful, comfort the suffering, and lead those who are far off to know His truth, and that we all may live in peace and godliness to His glory. We thank Him even now for His unspeakable gift and for His care over all creation.

May the Lord hear our common supplication and answer according to His perfect will and goodness. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this burden to pray for the world and for everyone in Jesus name, amen. It is right and good to join together in that kind of intercession.

The Scripture tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. At the same time the Bible warns us not to love the world system that is opposed to God, the way of thinking and living that rejects His Son. God loves people deeply and desires their salvation, yet He will one day judge the world for its rejection of Christ.

You may find comfort in how Jesus prayed in John chapter 17. In that prayer He said He was praying at that moment not for the world in general but for those the Father had given Him, His disciples, that they would be kept and set apart through the truth of God's Word and kept from the evil of the world. He prayed that they would be one, and the reason He desired that unity was so that the world may believe and may know that the Father sent Him. His heart was still for the world to be saved, but His specific prayer there was for His own to be protected and made holy so they could be His witnesses in the world.

That helps us understand our own praying. Prayer begins with relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Apart from Him there is no basis for prayer except the first prayer God longs to hear, God be merciful to me a sinner, which brings us into His family so we can truly call Him Father. From that relationship prayer flows first as worship, recognizing who God is, then as petition for our own needs, and then as intercession for others. Prayer does not force God to do what we want or try to change His will. It opens the door for God to do what He has long desired to do for us and through us, according to His will, without violating the will He has given us.

So we gladly agree with you in prayer for the world.

Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, we come to You through Jesus Christ Your Son. We thank You for Your love for the world in giving Jesus to die and rise again. We ask that Your kingdom come and Your will be done. We pray for people everywhere, in every nation, that they would hear the truth of Your Word and believe on Jesus and be saved. Set Your people apart through Your truth and keep them from the evil in the world, and make Your church one in Christ so that the world may see and believe that You sent Him. Have mercy on those who are still far from You, draw them to repentance and faith, and use our lives and prayers as part of Your witness. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who ever lives to make intercession for us. Amen.

Continue to pray without ceasing and not give up. God hears and answers prayer, sometimes with yes, sometimes with no, sometimes with wait, but always according to His love and grace. Keep holding up the world before Him that many may come to know His Son.