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We remember where we were when we heard about the 9/11 attacks.
I was in a staff meeting at the church I pastored. The staff turned on a TV just in time to watch United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the second (south) tower.
Many of us prayed. Our church held a community prayer meeting that evening.
That 9/11 prayer meeting at our church started my search through the Old and New Testaments to find the best scriptures, along with the teaching from these passages, on how to pray for our country.
Below is my “Five-Point Prayer Plan For America” – but it works for any country.
When Christians throughout the world align their prayers according to scripture, we will find ourselves both praying for our countries but also asking in unity for His Kingdom’s purposes in the latter days.
Amen!
My Five-Point Prayer Plan:
- Read about praying for nations and almost everyone quotes 2 Chronicles 7:14. With good reason. Praying for a country begins with humility, turning from wicked ways, and seeking God’s face. Also read 2 Chronicles 15:1-7, which concludes with, “Be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”
- Pray like Daniel (Daniel 9:1-19). Daniel confessed the sins of his nation for his nation. He used the phrase “open shame belongs to us.” Confess America’s shame and the sins behind the cause of this shame. Remember the promise of verse 19: “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
- Seek God’s Purpose. Daniel prayed for the restoration of Israel. Jesus tells us to disciple the nations. Both are connected in latter-day prophecy. Israel restored as a nation and the gospel preached to the ends of the earth then Jesus returns (Matthew 24:14 and Romans 11:25-32). Remember this promise in Romans 11:32, “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
- Pray for workers. Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). Everything that God is doing in history now has one purpose – to purify workers for the latter-day harvest.
- Pray for revival. James writes, “Therefore be patient, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near” (James 5:7-8).
The five points: humility, confession, God’s purposes, workers, and revival.
Let these words/lessons direct your prayers for our country and also our world.
Amen.