To Be Powerful, Our Prayers Must Be Founded on What Is True
Many, if not most (dare I say all of us), who belong to Christ need to pray more. We need to call upon the Lord with confidence that He cares more than we do. He knows more than we do. He has resources far beyond what we have, and He is far more just, wise, loving, and kind than any of us are.
Prayer cannot be an afterthought for the believer. Someone far wiser than me once said,
“No person gets to the end of their life and thinks, ‘You know looking back on my life I really think I spent too much time in prayer.”
(I honestly do not recall who said this first or else I would gladly give him or her credit).
The truth is—almost every one of us Christiana will likely think at the end of our lives when we behold our worthy Lord,
“Why didn’t I commune with you and call upon you more!? You are infinitely worthy and altogether glorious and unrivaled in your power! How foolish of me to pray so little!”
God is always more willing to answer than we are to pray. He alone possesses what we lack and desperately need. Read what He says to us about Himself, fellow Christian, and pray accordingly!
To Be Powerful, Prayer Must Begin with Our Own Repentance
Today, some of us may need to pray humble prayers of repentance. Perhaps we have given into godless fear and worry, thinking God is not on the throne. Some may have made an idol of candidates, elected officials in the political realm.
Others of us may need to pray prayers of repentance for our prayerlessness as seen in our foolish apathy toward and ignorance about laws, issues, candidates, elected officials and what is happening in local, state, and national government. Before praying for God to correct or reform or bring repentance to any specific candidate, political leader, or government official, we do well to look at ourselves and humbly confess and repent of any sin and shortcoming in our lives.
To Be Powerful, Prayer Must Become a Godly Habit
Another very important way to pray is to stay informed on what is happening and discipline yourself to pray before you go on to the next headline.
When we see candidates being inconsistent or foolish, waffling over basic matters of morality and ethics, we can pray for God to grant them courage, clarity, and consistency. When those elected leaders, known for brazenly embracing godless evil the Lord hates, continue in their hard-hearted wicked path, we can and should cry out to the Lord, first and foremost, for their salvation.
Empowered by the Spirit of God, Prayer Battles the Forces of Darkness
In all this we must remember that our ultimate struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
The signs of wicked influence are abundant. For example, World Magazine recently reported a “historic [and tragic] move” by the Biden-Harris campaign, which “signals their ultimate devotion to the abortion cause.”
Their stand is utterly unsurprising. Their open defiance of the true and living Creator God and their proud hatred for precious preborn girls and boys (and their mothers and fathers and future generations) is pervasive among elected officials, celebrities, and influencers in our day.
This truth ought to grieve and stir up righteous anger in every true Christian who fears God. Yet at the same time, every true Christian must quickly call upon the Lord for the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin in these foolish politicians.
Have you prayed lately for their sincere conviction and repentance before it is too late? We know God tells us in His Word that those who hate wisdom harm themselves and love death (Proverbs 8:36).
Coupled with the reality that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4), we find a daunting task well beyond any of our resources.
We must pray for these elected officials, deceived by the devil and enslaved by sin. Only the gospel of God and the work and power of God can do what to us seems impossible and unlikely (Matthew 19:26).
Strengthen your heart Christian and believe what God tells us: The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1).
Read and believe what God says in Psalm 2—as the people of God cried out to God, here was the message declared to rulers in government:
Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2:10-12)
Christian in the United States of America in 2024, have you prayed this for elected officials lately? Prayer is indeed one of the most essential weapons in truly biblical spiritual warfare. It is part of what Voddie Baucham called, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to God’s War on the Wicked”(listen to his excellent message on this here).
First and foremost pray for candidates and elected officials to trust savingly in the crucified, risen, ruling, one-day-returning Lord and the only savior Jesus Christ. the Son of God!
How Else Can We and Must We Pray for Our Elected Officials?
As Donald Whitney rightly titled his very good little book, we must be “Praying the Bible.” For example, the Lord tells us clearly and repeatedly in His Word that He is to be feared above all others (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4-5; Hebrews 10:31). Pray candidates and elected officials possess this sincere fear and live accordingly.
We also read clearly in God’s written Word that fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7). Pray this as well for candidates, elected officials, any civil magistrates tasked with interpreting the laws and meting out justice. Pray that those who counsel them fear the Lord and for their constituents and those citizens they represent to fear God and actually speak about God.
Our nation, the United States of America, has been so incredibly blessed by the Lord. And we must pray often for her and our fellow citizens and elected officials. The editors of Tabletalk Magazine rightly remind and warn us:
We must hear this word in our day. A nation that has experienced great blessing, such as the United States, will not endure if it rejects the Lord of hosts, even if God has used that nation to do good for the world. God told Habakkuk that those whom He regards as righteous trust in Him alone, resting wholly in His promises that He will accomplish His purposes even when that seems impossible from a human perspective. (Hab. 2:4)
Many things that our nation and many of our states face seem impossible. But God is sovereign and good and can do far more abundantly that all that we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Years ago, Dr. Wayne Grudem gave a talk, and we had a private conversation about it. What follows is a quote/paraphrase of what he said. I tried to find the talk but could not but want to give credit where credit is due.
It is often far easier for us to despair and much harder to depend on the Lord in prayer. It is frequently more natural for us as fallen sinners to criticize rather than to be those who call upon the Lord in faith. It is much less work to voice our strong convictions to others than it is to use our strength to voice our cries to the Lord. But what glorifies God more? What do we need more? And what does our family need more? What does Christ’s church need more? And what does our country and our world need more?”
Indeed!
