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How to Pray for Your Country

By Samuel E. Ward

View other slides @ http://www.slideshare.net/samward1

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IntroductionAs a country, we have turned from following God; there is widespread failure to obey His commandments or live by biblical principles. Is it just coincidence that our morality suffers? Or that economically, we face one of the most difficult times since the Great Depression?

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Regardless of what caused our national condition, Christian citizens should care enough about their country to cry out to God on its behalf.

--Charles Stanley

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Stanley goes on to say that two things ought to motivate Christians to pray for their country.

1) The condition of our nation is evidence that we need to pray for God's divine intervention. Economic struggles, natural disasters, terrorist threats, and the breakdown of families are just a few problems our country faces right now.

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2) Biblical warnings should also motivate us to pray. God sometimes sends adversity to get the attention of His people (2 Chron. 7:22; Deut. 8:19; 2 Chron. 7:19-20). The United States has enjoyed spiritual and material abundance as a result of God's favor. But there can be little doubt that, as a whole, our nation has rebelled against the Lord and refuses to live by His standards.

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Are there any principles or examples in God’s Word that could inform us on how best to pray for our country?

I. Recognize the Importance of Prayer for Your Country

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A. God answers prayers for a nation when He sees that the people care enough to pray for it.

1. God spared Israel from His wrath because Moses “stood in the gap.”

(Psa 106:23 NIV) So he said he would destroy them-- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.

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2. God promised that Israel would become a wasteland because no one cared.

(Jer 12:11 NIV) It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares.

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3. God looks for people who would act on behalf of the land to intercede and rebuild on behalf of the land.

(Ezek 22:30-31 NIV) "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.

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{31} So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."

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B. The failure of God’s people to pray on behalf of their nation is a sin with dire consequences for the nation.

(1 Sam 12:23-25 NIV) As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.

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{24} But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. {25} Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

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1. God’s people are the conscience of their nation.

2. God’s people are to live lives of whole-hearted reverence and faithful service to God out of thankfulness for what He has done for them.

3. God will bring judgment upon the whole nation, both those who rule and the people, if they persist in sin.

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II. The Content of Prayer for the Nation

A. That God would give us leaders who would allow Christians to live and minister without opposition from rulers and those in authority.

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(1 Tim 2:1-5 NIV) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- {2} for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. {3} This is good, and pleases God our Savior, {4} who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. {5} For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

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The church needs to be able to focus upon preaching the gospel rather than trying to survive the threats of a government which has become the enemy of Christ and His church.

Daniel speaks of the future fate of the final anti-Christian ruler of this world and the destiny of the saints.

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(Dan 7:25-27 NIV) He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. {26} "'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. {27} Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'

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B. That God would prosper the country for the sake of the Christians who live there.

(Jer 29:7 NIV) Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

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C. That our leaders would understand that they rule only by God’s permission.

(Dan 2:21 NIV) He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

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D. That our rulers would govern in righteousness and the fear of God

(2 Sam 23:3-4 NIV) The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: 'When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, {4} he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'

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E. That our rulers will not resist the Lord’s hand in directing them toward righteousness lest He must direct them to their fall.

(Prov 21:1 NIV) The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

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F. That our rulers will rely on God more than upon their own strength and power.

1. Relying on alliances is unreliable for your allies must protect their interests first.

(Psa 60:11-12 NIV) Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. {12} With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

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2. Relying on God testifies to a nation’s trust and dependence upon God which He will certainly honor.

 (Psa 20:7 NIV) Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

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3. Unless a nation relies on the watch and care of God, they really have no protection against their enemies.

(Psa 127:1 NIV) A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

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G. That our nation would not be ashamed to identify with the LORD for it is the only way to experience His blessing.

(Psa 33:12 NIV) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

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Conclusion Let us pray to have leaders in our blessed land who would have the spiritual depth to pray a prayer like the following from an undated prayer journal belonging to George Washington:

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O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul....

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Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life,

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may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life bless my family, friends, and kindred.