🙏 U.S. & 🌎 WORLD LEADERS, New Testament Urges Pray for ALL in Authority 1 Tim 2:1-4: Europe🇪🇺 Africa🌍Asia🌏🇨🇳 North South, Cent America🇺🇸🇨🇦

[Chrysostom]

We join you in bringing these petitions before the throne of grace, giving thanks to God who has appointed authorities for order and for good, and who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth through Jesus Christ alone.

We pray for all who are in authority, in this nation and in every nation across North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the islands of the sea. We ask the Lord to grant to presidents, vice presidents, kings, prime ministers, legislators, judges and all who bear responsibility, a wisdom that is not of this world, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God and the rulers of this world are coming to nothing. We ask instead for heavenly wisdom that teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope of Christ. Give them a guard over their mouths and the tongue of the wise, surround them with godly counsel, restrain bitterness and rivalry, and lead them to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and reverence and the gospel may have free course.

We pray for unity that is true and holy, not a unity of mere human imagination, but the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Where nations and peoples can agree for what is good and just, we ask for cooperation for the welfare of all. Where plans are evil, to divide, to deceive, to shed innocent blood or to corrupt elections and testimony, we ask God to bring them to nothing and to silence false teaching. We ask for protection for leaders and for ordinary people, for angelic help and for deliverance from the unseen workings of the enemy, and we pray that the earth would indeed help to swallow up false doctrine, deception, the persecution of Christians and hatred of the Jewish people, and that the nations would be claimed as the inheritance of Christ.

We pray also for our own cities and neighborhoods, for the welfare of the place where God has set us. We ask the Holy Spirit to convict neighbors, students, teachers, workers, athletes, parents, pastors, police officers and local leaders of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to draw them to the Son. Grant them repentance that is godly sorrow leading to salvation, not the sorrow of the world that brings death, and grant saving faith as a gift through hearing the word of Christ. Set a wall of fire around our communities and keep us from evil, that we may live honestly and with reverence while we wait for the good things to come.

For daily provision we give thanks and ask for daily bread, for work that is fruitful and time that is used well, for contentment with godliness which is great gain, and for the fruit of the Spirit, especially love, joy and peace, and a cheerful heart. Where years have been eaten by affliction, we ask for restoration according to His mercy, and for everlasting joy to replace shame.

We remember those in chains and those under persecution for the name of Jesus, as those who are bound with them. We pray for release for prisoners of faith where it is His will, for relief and courage for the persecuted church, for the peace of Jerusalem and for all the children of Abraham according to promise, that they and all peoples would find salvation in no other name than Jesus, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

We ask all of this not because we are worthy, but because Christ is worthy, and that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We entrust these prayers to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, our only mediator and hope. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your commitment to pray for those in authority is deeply biblical and pleasing to God. The Scripture exhorts us first of all to offer petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. That is not only good but it is the kind of prayer God desires, for He wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth through Jesus Christ.

A central need for every leader is wisdom, and Scripture makes a clear distinction about what true wisdom is. There is a wisdom that is earthly, sensual and self seeking, marked by envy and strife and confusion. It may sound clever but it comes to nothing and never leads people to know God. The world in its wisdom did not know God. Then there is the wisdom that comes from above. It is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. It dwells with prudence and hates evil. Its beginning, its starting place, is the fear of the Lord.

That wisdom is better than rubies and better than gold, and nothing we desire can compare with it. It is personified in Scripture as one who cries out in the streets and at the gates, inviting the simple and the foolish to come, to eat of her bread and drink of her wine, to forsake folly and walk in understanding. In Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Happy is the one who finds this wisdom, for she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.

This is what we should ask for on behalf of leaders everywhere. Like Solomon, who pleased God by asking not for riches or fame or victory over enemies but for an understanding heart to govern well, we can pray that those in authority would seek wisdom as one seeks for silver and hidden treasure. When they ask for wisdom, God who gives generously is able to add what else is needed. Pray that they would be given a guard over their lips and the tongue of the wise, that they would be surrounded by godly counsel, that they would do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God, and that their decisions would promote righteousness and peace rather than division.

Prayer itself is not a means to make our own will happen on earth. Its purpose is to see God's will and God's kingdom accomplished on earth. It begins with relationship. The Father's ear is open to His children, and through faith in Jesus we have access to Him. For those who are not yet His children, the first prayer God longs to hear is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which establishes that relationship. Jesus gave a model that starts with that relationship, Our Father, then moves to God's purposes, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, and then brings our personal needs before Him for daily bread, forgiveness, and guidance.

In that way prayer opens the door for God to do what He already desires to do, without violating the freedom He has given us. That is why we are urged to continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving, laboring fervently for others as one who bears them on his heart. There are unseen realities and spiritual forces at work behind what we see, and persistent, thankful prayer aligns us with God's purposes and invites His protection and heavenly intelligence, as seen when He encamped around His people and shut the mouths of enemies.

We join you in praying for the welfare of your own community, as we are taught to seek the peace of the place where God has placed us and to pray for it, for in its welfare we find welfare. May the Holy Spirit convict neighbors, students, teachers, workers, families, pastors, law enforcement and local leaders of sin and righteousness and judgment, and draw them to the Son. We ask for a wall of protection around your area and for God to keep you from evil, while making the gospel clearly heard so that faith comes by hearing the Word.

We also bring before the Lord your need for provision and for the redeeming of time. God knows our need for daily bread and invites us to ask Him for it, learning contentment with godliness while trusting Him to restore what has been lost and to produce in us the fruit of His Spirit, love, joy and peace, with a cheerful heart. May He make you glad according to the days you have been afflicted and restore double for what has been torn, for He both wounds and heals and binds up.

And we remember those in chains and the persecuted church around the world, asking for release for prisoners of faith, relief for the suffering, and for the peace of Jerusalem and for all the descendants of Abraham, that God's mercy and salvation would reach them through Christ. May false teaching, deception and every form of persecution and hatred be swallowed up and brought to nothing, and may the earth help to hinder the works of the enemy.

May the Lord grant you wisdom as you continue to seek Him, to prize wisdom above all else and to walk in the understanding He gives. We thank God for your burden to pray, and we ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom we have access to the Father and in whose name we are saved, that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.