🙏 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 this labor of intercession, for your request is according to Scripture which urges that petitions, prayers and thanksgiving be made 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.

We thank God for His sovereignty over every nation and we pray as you have asked. We pray for the President, Vice President, members of the cabinet, the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court, and for leaders throughout the world in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South and Central America, and the Middle East. We ask God to grant them wisdom, intelligence and character, to set a guard over their mouths and to give them the tongue of the wise, to surround them with godly counsel, to help them do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, and to turn their hearts toward righteousness and the good of the peoples entrusted to them.

We pray for fair and honest elections, for good turnout and for Christians to pray and to vote with a clear conscience. We ask the Lord to restrain every form of interference, deception, hacking, threats and violence around polling places, to silence falsehood and to expose evil, and to grant protection to voters and to those who oversee the process.

We pray for the peace of Jerusalem as the psalmist exhorts us. We remember that real peace is not merely the absence of outward conflict but reconciliation through the blood of the cross. There is no true peace apart from Christ who has made peace between heaven and earth. So we pray for the salvation of Israel and of all peoples, that eyes would be opened to Jesus the Messiah, that many would look upon Him whom they have pierced and find forgiveness and new life, for there is salvation in no other name.

We pray also for unity among Christians and among nations where unity is according to truth. Scripture teaches us to be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This bond does not cramp or bruise but makes the strong support the weak and binds hearts together in love. It is more powerful than distance or hardship. Yet we remember also that not every agreement is good, for even robbers agree together, and true peace sometimes requires separation from what is diseased and evil. We ask therefore not for a false peace that tolerates sin and false teaching, but for the peace Christ gives, the peace which He leaves to His disciples, which prepares the way for love and makes peacemakers to be called sons of God. We pray against the plans of the enemy to divide, deceive and destroy, against false doctrine, persecution of Christians and antisemitism wherever it appears, and we ask that the earth would help to swallow up these evils and that the Word of the Lord would run swiftly and be glorified.

We pray for the protection of those who serve and protect others, for members of the military, law enforcement, police and fire personnel, and medical workers, and for all civilians. We ask for angelic protection and heavenly help, for safety for families and communities, and for deliverance from the unseen powers of darkness, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. We pray that God would give courage to those who humble themselves to seek His face, and that He would hear from heaven.

We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, trusting that when we humble ourselves and pray, God hears and answers according to His perfect will, to the glory of His inheritance in the nations. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your heart for prayer is encouraging and it reflects what Scripture urges us to do. God calls us to bring petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all people, and especially for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and reverence. That instruction was first given when ungodly rulers were in power, which shows that our calling to pray does not depend on party or personality or whether we agree with those who govern. We pray for them because we need God to work through them.

Prayer begins with relationship. The model Jesus gave starts with Father, and that reminds us that effective prayer rests on being His child through faith in Jesus Christ. If that relationship is established, the Father's ear is open to His children's cry. If someone has not yet come to Him, the one prayer God is waiting to hear is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which opens the way to forgiveness and new life through the blood of the cross. From that place of relationship, prayer has its proper order, first seeking the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will on earth, and then bringing our personal needs and the needs of others before Him.

That helps us understand why we pray for those in authority. All authority is ordained by God, and government is ordained to preserve what is good and to restrain evil, bearing the sword to punish wrongdoers and to praise those who do well. When we pray, we are asking God to give leaders wisdom, character, and protection, to set a guard over their lips and to 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 also give thanks for them, even as we ask that their leadership would promote righteousness and unity rather than bitterness and rivalry, and that laws would be made for the preservation of good.

You mentioned the peace of Jerusalem, and Scripture does tell us to pray for her peace. Real peace comes only through reconciliation with God by the blood of the cross, through which we have peace with God and access to His grace. So we pray for the salvation of Israel and of all people, that many would come to know Jesus as Messiah, and that God would fulfill His promises in His perfect time.

You also remembered that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers. Prayer is one way God has given us to take part in that unseen battle without violating the freedom He has given to people. When we pray, we open the door for God to do what He desires to do in and through us and through our nations. Like those who labored fervently in prayer in the early church, we can continue in prayer without ceasing, and that work is not limited by distance. God hears from the first day we set our hearts to humble ourselves and seek Him, and He is able to give heavenly intelligence, angelic protection, and deliverance from deception, false teaching, persecution and hatred.

Jesus Himself showed us the necessity of prayer. Though He is the Son of God, He withdrew often to pray for strength and guidance, and He taught that His Father's house is to be a house of prayer for all people. Following His example, we learn to move from simple petitions to deeper intercession and then to thanksgiving, trusting that God answers and that He works through prayer what would not otherwise be wrought.

So let us keep praying together for leaders in every nation, for those who serve in government, in the military, in law enforcement and emergency service, and in medical work, for honest and secure processes where people choose their leaders, for safety for all citizens, for unity among true believers according to Psalm 133, and for the gospel to go forth to every nation which God desires for His inheritance. May we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from evil, trusting Him to hear, to forgive, and to heal, and may we be kept from evil and guarded in Christ until He comes.