Silas
Beloved of All
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, for kings and for all who are in authority, so that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. That includes those who lead where you live and those who lead in nations around the world, on every continent. They need the help and guidance of God, and we are to hold them up before Him.
Prayer begins with relationship. When Jesus gave His disciples a model for prayer He began with Our Father. That shows we come on the basis of relationship. Through faith in Jesus Christ we are brought into the family of God and can say Father, and the Father's ear is open to His children. Without that relationship through the blood of the cross there is no basis for prayer, but with it we have confidence to come. Real peace, for your own heart, for Jerusalem, for any nation, comes only through the blood of the cross and reconciliation with God as Romans 5 and Colossians 1 teach.
The purpose of prayer is not to get our own wishes fulfilled but to see God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. Your prayers for leaders, for fair and honest elections, for protection from deception, interference and threats, for those who serve in government, in the armed forces, in law enforcement, in fire and medical service, and for the peace of Jerusalem are part of that intercession. You are asking that valleys be lifted and mountains made low so the word of the Lord may go forth, that the nations which are His inheritance may hear, and that Israel and all peoples may come to salvation through Jesus. That is right to pray, for God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and He has promised in Psalm 2, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.
Scripture reminds us that authority is ordained by God and that those who lead need wisdom beyond themselves. We can pray that God would set a guard over their mouths as Psalm 141 says, that He would give them the tongue of the wise as Proverbs 15 says, that they would be surrounded by godly counsel, that they would do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God as Micah 6 says, and that among His people there would be unity as Psalm 133 describes. We can also pray as David prayed, give me Your judgments, that decisions would reflect God's desires. And we can pray for protection, for angelic help and heavenly wisdom as seen in Psalm 91, and for God's people to humble themselves and pray and seek His face as 2 Chronicles 7 says.
We are also reminded that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Behind what we see there is a spiritual conflict, as described in Ephesians 6 and in Daniel 10. That is why we are told to continue in prayer and to watch with thanksgiving. Persistence in prayer is not to change God's mind. God already longs to work, but He has given us free will and prayer opens the door for Him to do what He desires to do in and through us. When He puts a burden on your heart and you express it back to Him in prayer, the circle is complete and He is free to act.
The men and women God uses are people of prayer. The apostle Paul, even when he was confined in prison and could not travel, continued his ministry through prayer. Prayer is not bound by location. From one place you can do a work around the world as you hold up churches, leaders and nations by name before the Lord, laboring fervently as Epaphras did. That kind of praying shows. When people pray together, those who have learned to linger in prayer make it evident by how they pray.
Do not be discouraged by the greatness of the need or by unseen opposition. From the first day you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before God your words are heard. And when you pray in faith, let prayer end in praise. If we truly believe God will answer according to His will, it is right to thank Him beforehand for what He will do.
Keep continuing in that all encompassing prayer, moving from personal petition to intercession for the lost world and then to thanksgiving, lifting up holy hands as the early church did, trusting that the effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much and that as two or three agree on earth concerning anything, God hears. May the Lord strengthen you to keep watching and praying, and may He answer by bringing His kingdom and His will to pass in your nation, in Israel, and to the ends of the earth.
Prayer begins with relationship. When Jesus gave His disciples a model for prayer He began with Our Father. That shows we come on the basis of relationship. Through faith in Jesus Christ we are brought into the family of God and can say Father, and the Father's ear is open to His children. Without that relationship through the blood of the cross there is no basis for prayer, but with it we have confidence to come. Real peace, for your own heart, for Jerusalem, for any nation, comes only through the blood of the cross and reconciliation with God as Romans 5 and Colossians 1 teach.
The purpose of prayer is not to get our own wishes fulfilled but to see God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. Your prayers for leaders, for fair and honest elections, for protection from deception, interference and threats, for those who serve in government, in the armed forces, in law enforcement, in fire and medical service, and for the peace of Jerusalem are part of that intercession. You are asking that valleys be lifted and mountains made low so the word of the Lord may go forth, that the nations which are His inheritance may hear, and that Israel and all peoples may come to salvation through Jesus. That is right to pray, for God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and He has promised in Psalm 2, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.
Scripture reminds us that authority is ordained by God and that those who lead need wisdom beyond themselves. We can pray that God would set a guard over their mouths as Psalm 141 says, that He would give them the tongue of the wise as Proverbs 15 says, that they would be surrounded by godly counsel, that they would do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God as Micah 6 says, and that among His people there would be unity as Psalm 133 describes. We can also pray as David prayed, give me Your judgments, that decisions would reflect God's desires. And we can pray for protection, for angelic help and heavenly wisdom as seen in Psalm 91, and for God's people to humble themselves and pray and seek His face as 2 Chronicles 7 says.
We are also reminded that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Behind what we see there is a spiritual conflict, as described in Ephesians 6 and in Daniel 10. That is why we are told to continue in prayer and to watch with thanksgiving. Persistence in prayer is not to change God's mind. God already longs to work, but He has given us free will and prayer opens the door for Him to do what He desires to do in and through us. When He puts a burden on your heart and you express it back to Him in prayer, the circle is complete and He is free to act.
The men and women God uses are people of prayer. The apostle Paul, even when he was confined in prison and could not travel, continued his ministry through prayer. Prayer is not bound by location. From one place you can do a work around the world as you hold up churches, leaders and nations by name before the Lord, laboring fervently as Epaphras did. That kind of praying shows. When people pray together, those who have learned to linger in prayer make it evident by how they pray.
Do not be discouraged by the greatness of the need or by unseen opposition. From the first day you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before God your words are heard. And when you pray in faith, let prayer end in praise. If we truly believe God will answer according to His will, it is right to thank Him beforehand for what He will do.
Keep continuing in that all encompassing prayer, moving from personal petition to intercession for the lost world and then to thanksgiving, lifting up holy hands as the early church did, trusting that the effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much and that as two or three agree on earth concerning anything, God hears. May the Lord strengthen you to keep watching and praying, and may He answer by bringing His kingdom and His will to pass in your nation, in Israel, and to the ends of the earth.
