Answers

Q:

I can't see that it does much good to pray for world peace or our national leaders or big things like that, which our pastor does every week. I do think it's good to pray about other things, however.


A:

Today, millions of men and women across our nation will join in commemorating the annual National Day of Prayer — and I hope you will join them in praying for our nation and its leaders. The Bible’s mandate is clear: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for … all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).

Is God concerned about what you call the “big things” of life? Of course He is. If God is concerned about the small things in your life, why wouldn’t He also be concerned about the big things — things that affect the whole human race? Nothing — absolutely nothing — is beyond His concern. And that’s why we can (and should) pray for the world and its leaders.

Does it do any good to pray for the world? After all (you might say), we still have wars, and we still have economic and political and social problems that threaten to engulf us. But how much worse would they be if we didn’t pray? Let us never be guilty of ignoring our world and its needs by forgetting to pray. The Bible reminds us to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

If ever we needed to pray for our world and its leaders, it is now. On this National Day of Prayer take time to pray especially for our nation — and not just today, but every day.