How to pray for the nations

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” —Psalms 11:3

I believe our nation is in trouble today, probably more than I’ve seen in my lifetime. We are contending with issues that are causing the very foundation of our country to crumble. Our moral and spiritual roots are eroding, the economy is misleading, family life is disintegrating, and political forces are at unprecedented odds. There seem to be very few leaders who will take a stand for God and for His Word.

It can be tempting to believe that America has reached a point of no return. While these factors cause despair, we are reminded in Scripture that with God, nothing is impossible. No problem is too great for Him. Seasons of distress and uncertainty and hardship call for faithful, fervent prayer by God’s people and remind us of our responsibility to humble ourselves before Almighty God. We cannot expect healing to come to our nation apart from obedience to God through His Holy Word.

God longs for His people to humble themselves and to seek forgiveness and pray for guidance. God’s Word says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). The Bible commands that we repent of our sins and turn to Almighty God. And because we are confident that we serve a God of mercy and compassion, we know that He stands ready to respond to our cries out of the abundance of His divine wisdom.

It is a crucial time for us to individually and collectively seek God’s divine intervention for the challenges facing us. We need to pray not only for our nation, but we need to pray for our leaders, for all those who govern us, that they will turn to God with humble hearts and follow Him. Our military leaders need our prayers as we have dedicated men and women serving on battlefields and sacrificing their blood to protect our nation and many innocent people around the world. God is faithful to bless those who turn to Him.

Pray that as a nation we would return to God. As we call on God, let us do so by genuine faith, believing that He hears our prayers. God can heal this great land, for which our forefathers fought and died. We need spiritual renewal, we need a revival in America, and we need each and everyone to pray. Lord, Hear Our Cry!  —Franklin Graham

What you can do:

• Download this free prayer guide on how to pray for those in authority: 30 Ways to Pray Authority
• Download this free ELECTION PRAYER GUIDE
• Order your free 31-day prayer map/guide for the United States from Every Home for Christ
• Special thanks to our friends at Intercessors for America for the prayer guides. Learn more at ifapray.org

Other Resources:

• Download a Family Prayer Guide
• Download a Free Curriculum from Gospel Light on Prayer
• Download a Youth Group Prayer Guide and a Prayer Guide Series from Dr. Henry Blackaby
• 30-day prayer guide covering all the spheres of leadership
• Pray for Education in America
• Pray for Media and Entertainment in America

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” —I Timothy 2:1-2

www.nationaldayofprayer.org

What are ways we can learn how to pray for all nations? You can imagine my surprise when the Holy Spirit spoke to our congregation one day saying: “This is to be a house of prayer for all nations.” The surprise wasn’t the statement itself, but rather what I came to learn He meant by it. I presumed a “house of prayer for all nations” meant a worship center that was transcultural, cosmopolitan, and available to all ethnic groups and socioeconomic strata. I thought the Lord meant, “I want you to be nondiscriminatory and open to all peoples.”

Well, He did mean that much, of course. But we came to learn that He meant much more. The understanding gradually dawned upon us that we were to be a “house” in the sense of a congregation that gave itself to praying for all nations of the world. The God who called us to pray for our own land was now pointing to new levels of intercessions for all lands.

Praying for the whole world is a vast undertaking, and it is often hard to know where to start. So open your Bible with me and meditate upon the scriptures which follow each comment here. Here is a biblical guide to prayer for the nations.

To begin, it is scriptural to pray for all nations. Man refers to “closed doors,” but God knows none. “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for your inheritance … ” (Psalm 2:8). Passivity or a sense of futility is unscriptural. We are summoned to believe that prayer for nations shall bring deliverance (Psalm 71:11-12). A waiting until the millennium for Christ’s rule of the nations is not our directive. He shall rule them then, but we are called to pray for the invasion of His life and power there now (Luke 19:12-13; John 4:35).

Of course, the most obvious point is to pray for ministries we know are faithful to the Gospel in each land (Col. 4:2-3; Eph. 6:19-20) and against principalities and powers that seek to obstruct the work of God everywhere (Eph. 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:3-5). These obvious points of launching were embellished for us, however, when the Lord began to show us the biblical basis for praying that national leaders be moved under the hand of the Almighty God.

Proverbs 21:1 stirred my thoughts: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Suddenly, I recognized the incredible possibilities of national transformation—not by patterns we would recommend to God, but by power we could release through prayer to God. Here are the guidelines we began to learn for prayer at this dimension:

First: Be convinced that God has placed them in their positions. As to whether they have ruled in evil or righteousness, they will give account, but it is God’s sovereignty that has ordained their term of government nonetheless (Rom. 13:1-4).

Second: It is, therefore, the believer’s responsibility to pray for all governmental leaders. Our calling is not to pass judgment on their rule but, obedient to God’s Word, to enter into prayer with intercession that order and peace may fill each land (1 Tim 2:1-2).

Third: Such praying makes possible the rise of righteous rule in any land, for God overrules in all things when intercessory prayer prevails (Psalm 75:7-10). Further, such praying pleases God for it paves the way for fruitful evangelism to take place in each nation (1 Tim. 2:3-4).

Fourth: Therefore, let your heart be filled with confidence that prayer will introduce God’s overruling hand wherever faithful believers call forth His dominion. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is a prayer Jesus taught us to pray now! (Matt. 6:10)

Fifth: Pray.

Pray for a nation’s leader to be taught by God that the Lord Almighty is the source of his rulership; that humility fills the hearts of kings who learn to fear God (Daniel 4:34-35).

Pray for a nation’s leader to love his people more than he loves himself; that he serve as a shepherd and not as a taskmaster (Micah 6:8; Jer. 23:4-5).

And finally: Pray for the family of each national leader. God is able to work wonders in the heart of any person at this practical dimension of their daily life. Rightly ordered authority begins in the home—in family relationships. Pray for miracles in the households of world leaders (Phil. 4:22).

A global intercessor cannot waver in the conviction that all things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23). With the offer of these biblical guidelines to national and international intercession, may I extend the offer that you join me in framing up a “house”—a body of believers in your congregation that prays for all nations.

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Turn on the news and you will almost immediately hear about our government.

Decisions being made, policies being changed, leaders being fired, accusations against leaders, etc. And believers can be tempted to fear for our nation or grumble about our leaders. But I often wonder, do we pray for our leaders as much as we grumble about them? Do we pray for our nation as much as we fear for it? Here are some ways to pray for our nation.

Jesus gave us a number of instructions on how to pray. First he said:

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (MT 6.9-10)

There are various interpretations of what the kingdom is, but one thing I am sure of is that God’s kingdom is where God rules.

When I pray for God’s kingdom to come I pray for his rule to come, for salvation to come, for people to be saved. The Bible also makes it clear that God’s will is to save people (1 Ti 2:4).

So the first thing we can pray for our nation is that he would bring his rule and let his will be done and save multitudes. Pray that God will bring his kingdom rule into the lives of our leaders and save them. I regularly pray that God will save our President and his family, and that he will save every Senator, Representative and Supreme Court Justice and that he will save thousands of government workers.

And God tells us that we should pray for our leaders, whether we like them or not, that they would lead in such a way that we might enjoy peace:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 TI 2.1-4

Why does God tell us to pray for our leaders, especially that we might have peace? Because God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

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It is far easier to spread the gospel in a climate of peace than when there is war and persecution. I have read that throughout history, revivals have often ended when wars broke out. So pray for our leaders, that they will promote peace so the gospel might spread and multitudes be saved.

Pray that God will direct the hearts of our leaders.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes. PR 21.1 (NASB).

You may completely disagree with our leaders. They may be wicked people who do not seek the Lord. Yet God can direct their hearts as easily as a channel of water. He can turn their hearts any way he wishes.

So pray that God will move our leader’s hearts to promote righteousness and life and peace. Pray that he moves our leaders to put an end to abortion. Pray that God will give our leaders wisdom in every area.

And as Paul told Timothy, we should offer up thanksgiving regularly – for our government, for the peace he has given our nation, for his mercy and protection of us. We are so blessed to live in this nation and God has been so merciful and kind to us.

So pray for our leaders and nation regularly. Pray that God will bring his kingdom and save multitudes. Pray for God to move the hearts of our leaders so we can enjoy peace and the gospel can spread. And thank God for his kindness to us. You can pray something like this:

Father, I pray that your kingdom would come and your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that your Name and the name of Jesus would be honored in every place. That you would fill the earth with the knowledge of your glory. That praise would ascend to your name in every place. That the gospel would go forth in power to every nation and people. Please save multitudes from every tribe and tongue. 

Please save multitudes in the United States. Please work in Donald Trump and his family. Please save every one of our Senators, Representatives, Supreme Court Judges. Please place godly men and women in office. Please turn the hearts of our leaders to seek you and fear you and promote righteousness and life. Please give our leaders wisdom. Please have mercy on our nation, and rescue millions. Please protect our nation and continue to grant us peace and religious freedom. Please bring an end to abortion. Please change the hearts of multitudes regarding abortion.

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I’m excited that you are hungry or curious enough to click on this page. Learning how to pray for every nation in the world can seem daunting, but in this article, I will show you how easy it can be.

I seem to always be in awe of men or women who sacrifice greatly to go to the nations and spread the gospel. I recently was reading about the life of Gladys Aylward. She was a missionary to China from 1938-1970. Her story and work for the Lord were incredible. You can read more about her life in Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime

Being called to full-time missions is not for everyone. Some of us will do short term trips and some may just minister locally. It doesn’t matter as long as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

No matter what God has placed in your heart there is one thing we all can do. That is pray! I recently wrote a post on praying for America. You can check that out here: How to Pray for America 

We should be praying for our country, but we also should be praying for other nations. What if I told you that you could pray for all the nations of the world in a month? It’s true, it’s possible!

However, before we can go into the how let’s take a look at one reason why we should be praying for the nations.

PRAYER HAS THE POWER THE CHANGE THINGS.

Chew on that statement for a bit. Your prayers have the ability to shift things in the heavens and to cause a manifestation of God’s power to occur on the Earth. Look at it this way your prayers cause heaven to invade Earth. When you pray for a nation you are impacting that country more than you can imagine.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. James 5:16-17

Don’t ever doubt your prayers are powerless. That is a lie from the enemy to cause not to get on your knees. Now, let’s take a look at the how.

How to Pray for Every Nations of the World

Prayer Map – If you have a desire to pray for every single nation. You can easily do that with a prayer map.Every Home For Christ offers a prayer map of the world and for America. You can get it FREE at EHC Prayer Map

The prayer map will walk you thru 31 days of prayer. Each day you will pray for 8 nations. After the month is over you will have prayed for the whole world. It’s amazing. To top it off the map gives you some details on each nation to give you some direction in prayer.

Here are some things you can pray into for each nation.

• Christ is the desire of the nations. Pray for that desire to be made known to the people. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.”—Haggai 2:

• Ask God to forgive the sins of that state and to heal the land. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

• Pray for the laborers in the field. Cover the ministers, pastors, church leaders of that nation. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

• Pray for the lost to be saved and for the gospel to go forth. As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 Thessalonians 3:1 (NIV)

• Pray for those who are being persecuted for their faith. Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints Ephesians 6:18

• Pray for unity in the body of Christ. I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. I Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)

• Pray for the governmental leaders of those nations and for God to raise up godly leaders. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

I hope these tools have better equipped you to pray for the nations and maybe even go someday. Drop me a comment below and share with me your thoughts.

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