The Evangelical Alliance has led calls recently to make today, Friday 13th November, a national day of prayer.

Many churches up and down the country have taken up that call and are gathering virtually to pray for our nation. We live in a world that so often feels far from God, and we live in a world where suffering and pain seem so prevalent.

But this is not some theoretical suffering. Our own nation is in the grips of a major epidemic, and the social, economic, physical and mental toll of this will continue to affect us all. The Evangelical Alliance was right to call churches to prayer, we do not have the answers, but our hope is in a God who does. So let’s pray earnestly for our nation today.

Pray for your government

Of the many things and people to be praying for today, our government is certainly one of them. We desperately need to be praying for our leaders. Whatever we may think of them politically, they are the men and women that God has at this time appointed to rule our nation and we must pray for them.

Scripture reminds us of this. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 urges us to pray for our leaders, Romans 13:1 asks that we submit rightly to them. It is right and proper to pray for those who rule over us, to ask that they might strive for the good of their subjects and seek the Lord in their rule. In the midst of the pandemic and the accompanying economic woes, we must ask that the government would humble themselves before our God, look to Him as their only hope, and rule with justice, wisdom and mercy over this land.

So below I have reproduced a prayer of Clement of Rome. Writing at the very end of the first century, Clement is one of the earliest non-canonical Christian writers, with at least one (possibly two) extant letters to the church in Corinth. This short prayer asks that God might cause our leaders to govern with a heart for the Lord, seeking peace and righteousness. And it asks this of a God who alone is able to affect the changes this land so desperately needs. So join me in echoing this prayer as part of your day of prayer today, and let us submit our government to the Lord.

Grant unto all Kings and Rulers, O Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, that they may administer the government which You have given them without failure. For You, O heavenly Master, King of the Ages, give to the sons of men glory and honour and power over all things that are upon the earth. Lord, direct their counsel according to that which is good and well pleasing in Your sight, that administering in peace and gentleness, with godliness, the power which You hast given them, they may obtain Your favour. O Lord you alone are able to do these things, and indeed things far greater than these! We praise You, through the High Priest and Saviour of our souls, Jesus Christ; through Whom be the glory and the majesty, unto You, both now and for all generations, and forever and ever. 

Amen.

---

This is the third post I’ve recently uploaded looking at prayers from the first Christians, you can find the others through the links below.

Church in lockdown: weary and burdened? A second century prayer of intercession.

Church in Lockdown: Weary and Burdened? A 4th Century Prayer for Refreshment.