Tag Archives: nations

Prayer Requests for the Nations

January 6, 2016 Debbie Leave a comment

The Spirit of God is arresting our attention and focusing us upon His agenda which is the very heartbeat of God. He is a God who has definite strategies and works according to a fixed set of plans. Nothing, absolutely nothing is a happenstance with the Lord for He is a God of order. He has a plan concerning the nations. His agenda is far more serious than anything man can comprehend, for He always deals with eternal issues and the eternity of entire nations is at stake.” Adapted from Michael Howard

The following are general prayer requests for all nations. It is good to incorporate them into your prayer meetings on a regular basis. In some of the Houses of Prayer I have been involved in, I’ve printed them out and kept them in the prayer room. I have taped prayer requests for the lost, for the city, for the nation, and for the world on the walls for everyone to see. I also have brought several copies of each one, leaving them on the table for others to take and use in prayer. Have prayer fuel for the city and nation always available in the prayer room. Pray for the nations that God lays on your heart individually and as a group. Mix intercession, worship, and singing together—and always expect God to answer.

Thank God for how He is working in the nations – Philippians 4:6.
Pray for unity in the body of Christ – Matthew 12:25; John 17:23.
Pray for a spiritual awakening among the lost – John 14:13-14; 16:24; 2 Peter 3:9.
Pray for leaders – Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 2:1-3.
Pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit of revival on His people – Psalm 85:6; Isaiah 64:1-3.
Pray that God’s people will walk in holiness and obedience – Psalm 81:11-12.
Pray for the fear of the Lord to touch all Christians so they hate evil – Proverbs 8:13; 2 Corinthians 7:1.
Pray for God to send His workers into the harvest field – Matthew 28:19-20.
Pray that the body of Christ will reach out to the poor and needy – Proverbs 21:13; Hebrews 13:3.
Pray for revival among children and youth and that God will use them mightily for His glory – Mark 9: 37; 10:13-14.
Pray for just laws and righteous moral standards – 1 Tim. 2:1-4.
Pray that the Word of God will be given its rightful place – Psalm 119:126.
Pray that there will be united intercession in cities and regions with the ability to pray against the major principalities over those areas – Ephesians 6:12-13.
Pray that God’s people will wage spiritual warfare as directed by the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 6:10-18.

“The key to the authority of the intercessor is when his heartbeat aligns with the heartbeat of Almighty God. Nothing is more pressing than that the nations and multitudes who are marching to a Christless eternity should be saved. How I saw the agendas of men: so many and varied and all of such vital importance to them, but there was only one paramount agenda to God: THE NATIONS. I instantly realized that the entire task of the glorious triune God was completely and utterly devoted to this one supreme purpose for which Jesus had so freely given His life. All else was rather trivial in comparison and we all had majored on the trivial.” Michael Howard

God’s Foundational Purpose for America

January 5, 2016 Debbie Leave a comment

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

God is very purposeful. He has foundational purposes for America. Our forefathers stepped onto these shores with a Godly purpose.

We can pray for their fulfillment in these days. We have God’s authority to pray His purposes over America. May we pray in unity for God’s plan for this nation to come to pass. It is time to enlarge our vision and see His heart to touch the nations with His light and His glory. It is time to see with the eyes of our heart the reality that the earth will be filled with His knowledge and His glory as the waters cover the sea.

I lived on a missionary ship for years and when we were at sea, we saw how vast and endless the ocean was. God’s light and truth and power will reach the world to that extent. May God give us revelation of this truth so that we may pray it into fulfillment. It will happen as the intercessors arise in holy determination and fiery intercession until the breakthrough comes.

The Foundations of America

The following are the foundational purposes of America as expressed through the U.S. presidents and the godly leaders of this nation.

George Washington (Founder of our country) – “Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son, Jesus Christ.”

Patrick Henry – “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Abraham Lincoln (16th president) – “It is the duty of nations as well as of men to won their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

56 men signed the Declaration of Independence and each one knew, when they signed their name, that they were risking everything, including their lives. Will we not stand for truth that it might prevail and that God may become King and Ruler of America?

Bill Bright says, “From the days of Columbus on, God used great care in forming the United States of America, creating us to be a worldwide influence.” The New England Confederation proclaimed in 1643 said:

“We all came to these parts of America with the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When the Jamestown settlers stepped ashore, they immediately planted a cross and claimed the land for Christ. Governor William Bradfore in referring to the pilgrims’ mission in the new world said this:

“They cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good founda-tions, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work.”

The Mayflower Compact of 1620 declares that the Pilgrims came to advance the Christian faith for the glory of God. They believed they were part of God’s plan to raise up a nation from which they and their descendants would not only enjoy the blessings of a new land with religious and political freedom, but also touch the world with the Gospel.

The Puritans had made a covenant with God and understood the powerful significance of this. Winthrop said, “Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work. We have taken out a commission . . . But if we neglect to observe those articles, and dissembling with our God shall embrace the present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our prosperity, then the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, and be avenged of a perjured people, and He will make us know the price of such a breach of such a covenant.”

God’s blessing comes with a purpose. “We as a nation seem to have forgotten that life is more than a series of causes and effects. Just as there is a goal, a destination to which God is ultimately leading each individual, God also has a specific and definite goal for each nation. Throughout American history, we see dramatic evidence of God’s hand molding and shaping this nation into a vessel He can use.”

Like our forefathers, we must fight for our nation and claim it for God. We can no longer let the devil take our country. It is time for intercessors to arise in believing prayer and take back this nation for God. We need to cry out that His destiny for America will come to pass. We need to pray that we will be a blessing to the nations of the world.

A Prayer for National Revival

“Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for the great sleeping giant, the church, who even now has begun to shake herself from her sleep. We pray she would awake to righteousness and holiness in every denomination, in every body of believers, and slumber no longer. We pray we would begin to unify under the blood-stained banner of the Cross and preach the gospel of the kingdom clearly and boldly in every highway and byway of our nation. We pray that we will not only stand up and speak up but that we will begin to reap a great harvest in our nation, bringing multitudes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. May the revival of the saints be so all-encompassing that it affects the spiritual complexion of our entire nation and influences our politics, our economy, our media and our entire society.” Acts 3:9, Eph. 1:15-23, 3:14-21. From Pray For Our Nation

“From its beginning America was a nation of vision and destiny. We were created with a mission grounded in a specific covenant between God and the people of this nation – a sacred contract that would form the core of what we were to become. The history of America is the story of God’s preparation of a people to touch the world with the love of Christ. In a drama that began many years ago, we have been carefully molded, disciplined, and guided by God as a nation set apart for a special mission. Although America has changed in many ways and though we often struggle against great darkness, our mission has not changed.” Bill Bright

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Breaking Strongholds Over Cities & Nations

July 2, 2015 Debbie 1 Comment

“Nations await the rising of the Lord’s army. We can defeat strongholds – individual by individual, then by groups, cities, regions and nations. We must neither quail at the enormity of the task nor rush foolishly in where the Holy Spirit has not led. We must develop more discipline and corporateness than we have ever known. Self-disciplined behavior must replace our personal desires.”

It is now time that we, as intercessors, pray and believe that God will touch entire cities and nations by His mighty power. God has given us the authority to do this in prayer. Remember that earth is the Lords and everything in it. God’s army of intercessors must arise. There are essential keys to apply personally and corporately in order to see major strongholds broken.

What are these keys in seeing the strongholds broken over cities and regions?

There is much satanic counterattack when you war against corporate strongholds. You must first know how to deal with strongholds in your own life and in others. The satanic attack comes through your own personal strongholds. You must give the enemy no open doors. If God is calling you to enter into spiritual warfare on this level, you must answer the question, “What are corporate and regional strongholds? Here is a good definition by John Sandford: “Corporate mental strongholds – the devil’s most cogent and frequently employed device for controlling every kind of nation – are practiced ways of thinking, feeling or acting that we share with a larger group, or with mankind as a whole.”

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

People develop in the mentality they share with others, and these form strongholds over nations. They are extremely powerful. We have been in many nations where these corporate strongholds rule. We have seen difficulties in the missionaries working there. These difficulties manifest in relational problems, depression, discouragement, hopelessness, and many other things. We can feel the heaviness of these spirits almost immediately entering a country. We must realize that principalities and powers are controlling these areas of the world, and that these corporate strongholds are much more powerful than personal strongholds. We read in Ephesians 6:12:

“Our 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”

The world forces of darkness rule multitudes through corporate mental strongholds. They use all the demonic lies found in personal strongholds, but they have much more power. We can see the reality of this power whenever we see groups of people doing violent things that an individual would not do alone. For example, a youth gang will rape or kill a woman where an individual would not. World demonic rulers will kill and destroy homes because of ethnic hatred. Hitler and his men killed millions of Jews without any guilt. Corporate strongholds can destroy guilt. The stronghold of homosexuality has deceived multitudes of people into thinking that being gay is alright.

“Whenever people begin to think in wrong ways, the enemy moves strongholds over their minds, clamps them into place like a helmet and takes them captive to do all manner of evils that none of them in their rightful minds would ever have allowed.”

The devil takes people captive. He wants to imprison whole nations and people groups. The Holy Spirit wants to set people free. The more we are aware of how the enemy controls whole groups of peoples and even nations, the more we can be used by God to demolish principalities. It is the strength of God that will do it and not our own human ability. It is important to realize that we can never destroy these corporate strongholds alone. They are too powerful.

“Individuals fight individuals. Armies fight armies. When warring against a principality and the strongholds it employs, we are battling not only the principality but multitudes of demons as well – hundreds or thousands of them. No individual believer, nor even an entire army, will be able to eradicate such a stronghold as drugs or homosexuality or ethnic hatred. These are too ancient, too powerful and too entrenched in the minds and hearts of many. We may deliver many from a stronghold, but we can’t defeat strongholds over regions until entire masses of people hate it, repent, forgive and ask for forgiveness, and bring it to death on the cross.”

Rules of Warfare in Breaking Strongholds over Cities and Nations

“Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 149:5-9)

The Holy Spirit must guide you – Make sure that the Holy Spirit is calling you to this level of warfare. God’s army must be well trained and mature spiritually. Ask yourself several questions: Is God asking you to help break an individual stronghold or a group, region, or even a national stronghold? If it is more than an individual, who are you to do it with? What prayer groups have the same vision? Are you supposed to set individuals or groups free from homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, etc.? Is it your church or several prayers groups in your city? Is the group you are praying with united and mature spiritually? Are you sure that God is calling you?“They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking rank” (Joel 2:7-8).

Make sure you have enough prayer warriors – Breaking strongholds in cities, regions and nations require armies to match the size of the battle. “I hope the day comes, however, when sufficient numbers of Christians have been trained and united to tackle and ring down strongholds and their wielders, and to set entire regions free. Can you imagine an army one hundred thousand strong, or even hundreds of thousands strong, standing in determination to bring down the stronghold of homosexuality over our nations? Or abortion, or radial prejudice, or the rights movement that corrupts our court system, or opportunism in politics, or the sexual revolution?”“What king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:31)

Seek God’s strategy – Seek the Lord’s guidance many times before taking action. Make sure that there is persistent prayer and that you have good strong leadership. Watch carefully for strongholds in your own life that might surface. Deal with them quickly when they arise. Know your identity in Christ. Satan will often accuse you of the same problem and tap into your personal strongholds. Find out about the history of a person, group, or nation under the control of a stronghold. Wars are won by battle plans. It is essential to know your plan of action.“But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11).

Saturate the region with worship, praise and thanksgiving – Understand the power of worship and thanksgiving in defeating the enemy. When going to a nation, I often spend much time in worship and praise. I often bring praise music with me. I will worship God on the balcony, traveling by train, riding in the car or prayerwalking. I know that this is one of my greatest weapons of war and so I try to cultivate it whenever I can.“He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23).

Exercise discernment and persist in prayer – There needs to be a lot of spirit-led prayer and intercession throughout the whole process of breaking strongholds. Timing is important. The devil will try to maintain his hold over nations and cities. Listen to Him for guidance. Proceed carefully at His direction. Ask God to give your group a spirit of wisdom and revelation.“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:17-18).

Pray God’s Word over the territory – God’s Word is powerful in breaking the hold of the enemy over the land. Bathing the region in intercession through strategically praying the Word erodes the power of the enemy and defeats him. Remember that Jesus came against the enemy by quoting the Word of God. God’s Word is like fire that shatters the deep-seated strongholds of the enemy.“‘Is not my word like fire’, declares the Lords, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces?'” (Jeremiah 23:29)

Prepare for the devil’s counterattack – Walk in holiness, and maintain a close relationship with the Lord. Have no unconfessed sin. Realize that the devil looks for an area in your life that he can attack. Maintain balance in your life in Sabbath, rest, fellowship and exercise. Fill your life with worship and praise.“Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength’ seek his face always” (Psalm 105:2-4).

“When will great numbers of men arise in prayer, and in righteous fury, bring down the strongholds of aggression that kill and maim men and women and children? Someday it will happen. Scriptural prophecy will not be denied. How long will our Lord have to wait patiently while we dilly-dally in our own petty concerns. I pray that God’s men and women will arise and learn the arts of warfare that will heal the nations!” Quotes by John Sandford  

Intercession – The Strategy For Reaching Nations

July 2, 2015 Debbie Leave a comment

“The evangelization of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men – deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life – is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, worldwide prayer. Pray that our mission work may all be done in this spirit: waiting on God, hearing the voice of the Spirit, sending forth men with fasting and prayer. Pray that, in our churches, our mission interest and mission work may be in the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. A Spirit-filled, praying church will send out Spirit-filled missionaries, mighty in prayer.”

As we go to the nations with the Gospel of Christ, we must be men and women of prayer and intercession. There is a tendency for the enemy to get us too busy in important matters where we actually miss out on the best. Intercession is going to cost us. It is the key strategy in reaching nations. We read in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful”. This is not some half-hearted endeavor, but it will cost sleep, time and energy. We have to devote ourselves to prayer. It’s a personal choice and discipline to pray and not give up. Prayer is hard work. We must see with the eyes of faith and vision the potential and power of intercession. Vision determines priorities, and our priorities determine our destinies. It must be a high priority in the life of a missionary. You and I will never see results without it.

“What a mystery of glory there is in prayer! On the one hand we see God in His holiness, love, and power waiting and longing to bless man. On the other hand there is sinful man, a worm of the dust, bringing down from God by prayer the very life and love of heaven to dwell in his heart. But the glory of intercession is so much greater: when a man is bold and asks from God what he desires for others. He seeks to bring down on one soul, or it may be on hundreds and thousands, the power of the eternal life with all its blessings.” 

Keys to Power in Intercession

“Christ’s power to save, and save completely, depends on His unceasing intercession. The apostles’ withdrawing of themselves from other work to give themselves continually to prayer was followed by the number of the disciples multiplying exceedingly. As we, in our day, give ourselves to intercession, we will have more and mightier conversions.”

We want to share with you some practical ways you can develop a life of prayer and intercession. We have adapted the following from Debbie’s second book on intercession. Here are listed seven keys, enough for each day of the week. Why not meditate and pray about one on each day? Ask God to develop these in your life and begin practicing them. This will prepare you in the greatest way for reaching a nation or city for Christ. In order to make a deep and lasting impact in cities around the world, we must lay hold of prayer and intercession with all our heart. God is maturing us for harvest. We believe that these ways, if taken seriously and applied, will open a wide door into your destiny in reaching the nations.

Cultivate praise, worship and thanksgiving – Worship and praise God throughout the day now. Worship changes how we see our situations. It is a joyful way to live successfully in the end time. As we ascend to the throne room in worship, then we can descend back into the harvest field here on earth, pray, and war for its release. God can give us keys during our seasons of worship that unlock the path before us and bring glory into our situations here on earth. Everything in us should give praise to the Lord. David says in Psalm 34:1, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Practicing praise and worship will lead you into a more powerful life in missions.
Raise your view of God – He wants to give you a bigger picture of Himself. Raise your expectation level of what God can do in your life supernaturally through prayer. What glasses are you looking through? How do you see God? How does He see you? Whenever God brings us to a new level spiritually, we must adjust how we see God. Warfare is not primarily taking authority over the devil but it is discovering the majesty of God and His supremacy. Our view of God is most important in reaching nations and will bring us into a more powerful life of intercession because we begin to view everything from the greatness and supremacy of Christ.
Let God stretch your faith – Believe Him for something bigger than yourself. Faith and prayer move God to work on your behalf. Are you trusting God for something that is bigger than yourself that only He can do? Are you stepping out of your comfort zone and asking Him for things that are God-sized and not man-made? Let us keep in mind that God will not do anything without believing prayer. We read in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Exercising faith empowers our prayer life.
Practice purpose-driven prayer – Focus on God’s plan rather than your own needs. When we focus on the negatives and our own needs, we are practicing problem-driven prayer. Purpose-driven prayer focuses on God’s overarching plan. By faith you can pray for his maximum glory to be achieved in any situation. This frees the Lord to replace your problem with His provision. God wants to move us into a much higher realm of His purposes for the nations. As our hearts touch the heart of God, we begin to have His desires and goals. We see things as he sees them. We are committed to His glory. A powerful life of intercession is a life that practices purpose-driven prayer.
Practice God’s Presence – Become a best friend of God. Learn to abide and walk in peace even in the midst of the storms of life. There is a place in the spirit far above all principalities. The enemy wants to get you out of the place of abiding. Learn to take thoughts captive and forgive quickly. Look at everything through the eyes of Christ, and practice meditating on God’s Word. “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about them” (Psalm 119:97, 77:12). As you practice God’s presence, the spirit of intercession will permeate your life.
Have a Kingdom of God mentality – Practice holiness in your lifestyle. God wants to bring us into a new level of holiness. Kingdom living is living a life of holiness and living out the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It is letting God be the King in every area of your life. It is submitting to His Authority. It is letting God refine you and teach you to walk in love and forgiveness. This is where the enemy is defeated. There is power in prayer for those who live a holy life. James 5:16 says, “The fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” As you walk in holiness, the Kingdom of God will rule in your life and missionary work.
Learn to wait on God in prayer – It brings forth his maximum purposes. In order to move with God’s direction in the end times, we must learn this secret. The truth is that it is in waiting that we will accomplish the most for God. It is in waiting that He will give us His secrets to kingdom living. How much time is wasted when we run down the wrong road? It is in waiting that the very highest direction for your life can come forth on a daily basis. What may look like a loss of time is really only time multiplied on your behalf. God is able to do things with a lot more efficiency than you are. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5). As you wait on God, He will give you strategy in reaching nations.

What can we do to stir up the spirit of intercession? There is a twofold answer. Let every Christian, as he begins to get an insight into the need and the power of intercession, begin by exercising it on behalf of single individuals. Pray for your children, for your relatives and friends, for all with whom God brings you into contact. If you feel that you do not have the power to intercede, let the discovery humble you and drive you to the mercy seat. God wants every redeemed child of His to intercede for the perishing. It is the vital breath of the normal Christian life – the proof that it is born from above.” Quotes by Andrew Murray

Training in World Missions

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Looking into the Heart of God for the Nations

July 1, 2015 Debbie Leave a comment

“Nothing was more pressing than that the nations and multitudes who are marching to a Christless eternity should be saved. How I saw the agendas of men: so many and varied and all of such vital importance to them, but there was only one paramount agenda to God: The nations. I instantly realized that the entire task of the glorious triune God was completely and utterly devoted to this one supreme purpose for which Jesus had so freely given His life. All else was rather trivial in comparison and we all had majored on the trivial.” Michael Howard

While at sea for days on a ministry trip and with our ship bobbing up and down in the vast and seemingly limitless ocean, it was easy to feel low or even seasick. I found it was a prime opportunity to seek to see things from God’s point of view. Undistracted by the business of the usual routines, I was able to look at God’s world, taking time to hear His heart of love for the nations. “When thou didst say, ‘Seek My face’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek'” (Psalm 27:8).

God’s heart is full of compassion. His heart takes in the whole world. What does this mean to us as intercessors and a people who want to grow in prayer? Our focus should also include the world, the nations and cities around us. We are the ones who can impact the nations with our prayers.

God is looking across this whole earth to find those whose hearts are as His heart, those who will intercede for the nations. Will you be one to stand in the gap? God is looking for intercessors. Will you be one that intercedes for the nations? Will you let God lay a nation on your heart for the purpose of prayer? Can God give you His passion for the world? A key to our authority is when our heart-beat aligns with the heartbeat of our Almighty God. He desires to use you in a powerful way to touch the nations.

“The one great need in the modern missionary movement is intercess-ors. They were scarce in the days of Isaiah. This was his complaint: ‘And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor’ (Isaiah 59:16). So today there is great need of intercessors: first, for the needy harvest fields of earth, born of a Christlike compass-ion for the thousands without the Gospel, and, then, for laborers to be sent forth by God into the needy fields of earth.” E. M. Bounds 

How to Pray for Nations

“The only condition that is to give worldwide power to this Gospel is prayer, and the spread of this Gospel will depend on prayer. The energy that is to give it marvelous momentum and conquering power over all its malignant and powerful foes is the energy of prayer.” E. M. Bounds

Begin to pray for the nations. Ask God to lay a burden on your heart for a nation, a people group or for a region of the world. You may want to pray for troubled areas of the world you hear about on the news. God wants every one of us to open our eyes, enlarge our vision, and begin to pray for the needy world around us. There are many ways to pray. Some intercessors like to pray through prayer cards with prayer requests for different nations. Others like to pray over a large map of a country. Some like to use the book Operation World that has detailed requests for every nation. Each way is good, but the main thing is to begin.

Here are several points of prayer that apply to the nations, plus some scriptures to start you off as you pray. These prayer requests are excellent when interceding for any nation. During your time of prayer, God may have you focus strongly on one or on a few of these items. Be creative, be led by the Holy Spirit, and let God burden your heart for different parts of the world with His particular emphasis for that day. Don’t think you have to pray through the whole list but let God direct you by His Spirit. Pray the Scriptural truth over the nation as well.

Adding countries into your prayer life develops your effectiveness in a powerful way. Your burden for the world will grow, and you will begin to see the world and life in a new way. Our own problems seem smaller when we focus on the needs of whole nations and people groups.

Thank God for how He is working in the nations – “How awesome is the Lord most High, the great King is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:2, 8) .
Pray for unity in the body of Christ – “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). “Pray for revival among God’s people – “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you” (Psalm 85:6) .
Pray for government leaders and spiritual leaders – “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” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) .
Pray that God’s people will walk in holiness and obedience – “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Pray for the fear of the Lord among Christians – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).
Pray for God to send His workers from every nation into the harvest field – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20) .
Pray that the Church will reach out to the poor, needy and imprisoned – “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Hebrews 13:3).
Pray for the salvation of the lost – “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).
Pray that God will use children and youth mightily for His glory – “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children'” (Matthew 11:25) .
Pray for just laws and righteous moral standards – “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34) .
Pray that the Word of God will be given its rightful place – “Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them” (Psalm 119:129).
Pray that 24-7 prayer and worship will start in every major city in all nations – “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you” (Psalm 84:1,2,4) .
Pray that God’s people will know how to effectively wage spiritual warfare – “Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:10-11) .
Pray the promises of God in His Word over the nations – “The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory” (Psalm 102:15) .
Praise God for prayer for the nations – “These will I 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” (Isaiah 56:7) .

Praying for the nations has rewards that will endure through all eternity. This may be one of the most strategic things we ever do. One day we will worship God around the throne in heaven with people from every tribe and tongue and nation. We will then realize the value of every prayer we prayed for a nation while we were on the earth.

Are you willing today to pray for the nations?
Are you willing to invest your time in a task that is so rewarding?

“And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation'” (Revelation 5:9).

“While I am very excited about what is happening, yet as an intercessor, I can never forget that over half of the world’s population has never heard of Jesus. The task ahead is still enormous. As darkness covers the earth in the last days and darkens the people, the glory of the Lord will shine brighter and brighter, brighter and brighter in the face of a people who love Him absolutely and uncompromisingly. In this way, the whole world will know that there is a God who reigns in the Heavens and man will be left without excuse on the day of Christ’s appearing. The Spirit is still heralding a call for watchmen to join the great choir of intercessors.” Michael Howard

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Igniting the Fire of Prayer Worldwide