Pray for World Leaders
Want to know something that pleases God? Read what Paul wrote in a letter to his young helper Timothy: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4, emphasis added).
Paul had spent lots of time in jail because the king and other leaders were being cruel and unfair to Christians at that time. Even though he had suffered because of those leaders, Paul asked Christians to pray for them.
In our time, we may feel that a leader is bad and we don’t want to pray for him or her. But God is pleased when we pray for all leaders—both good and bad. God can surprise us and use a leader we think is bad to do good things for the kingdom of heaven. Remember, we can’t always see the big picture that God sees.
Are you wondering what leaders to add to your prayer list? Try praying for all the leaders you hear mentioned in the news. Find out what country someone at school or in your neighborhood is from, and pray for that country’s leaders. Or pray for the leader of a country you learned about at school. You may know missionaries to another country—pray for the leaders of that country. If you don’t know the names of a country’s leaders, check out this web site, which lists every country and its leaders.
Take your list of world leaders and pray:
1. For their leadership of their country, that God will bless them and give them wisdom to govern well and that God will shield them from evil and demonic influences.
2. For their spiritual life, that they, their families, and their staff will come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and that they will grow in their faith if they already know Jesus.
3. That they will support religious freedom, that leaders who have allowed persecution would see a vision of Jesus that would change their hearts towards missionaries, pastors, and Christians. That they would attend or at least permit Bible studies and prayer meetings and the preaching of the gospel and that they would thank God for good changes that help Christians in the country do their work.
4. That God will use each leader to spread the kingdom of God in their country and that the will of God will be done.