Pray for your country (Part 1)
1. Foundational verse: 2 Chronicles 7:14 “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”
Certain Christian groups contest this verse saying that it concerns the people of Israel and as a matter of fact, other nations are not included in the scope of the verse. In order to better understand the responsibility of prayer for nations, let’s look at what Isaiah 56:6-7 says: “And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
We are speaking of foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him with joy in his house of prayer, which will be a house of prayer for all the nations and not solely for the people of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this prophesy by stating: “My house will be a called a house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17). In our time, very few congregations dedicate time to praying for the nation. Very often, we have everything except prayer i.e. we have choirs, preaching, offerings, etc… but we forget that prayer is the primary mission of the church.
Back to 2 Chronicles 7:14, when the Lord looks at a nation it is the church in that nation that is considered as his people. In addition, if this same people humble themselves, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from their wicked ways, then the promise says that He will answer their prayers and heal their nation.
This teaching is essentially based on the prayer of Daniel. Chapter 9 speaks of the prayer of Daniel during the reign of king Darius who was a Mede. Daniel discovered in the prophetic writings that the time of deliverance from captivity for the people of Israel had come. Seventy years had been decreed for the destruction of Jerusalem. Daniel realized that the time was up and that he was in the exact moment of deliverance for the people of God.
In the second part, we will see how Daniel reacted to this revelation. I will talk about four steps of Daniel's prayer and these four steps should be a model for us as we pray for our country.
Those who believe in Jesus have an important role for the stability and success of their country. Unfortunately, today Christians are among those who curse their country by only speaking about what is not going well, and never think of praying for their country.
How much time per month do you spend in praying for your country in your church? You who are reading this message, how many days per week do you pray for your country?
To be continued in Part 2
