Psalm 145
November 6, 2022
Father, we are thankful for Your Word and the ways it reminds us of who You are and all that You’ve done. We are so in awe of your faithfulness. You are gracious and merciful, good to all, powerful and glorious, the eternal King. You are faithful in all your words and kind in all Your works. You satisfy us and fill all our desires. Remind us of Your goodness daily, Father, so that we will commend You to the next generation and to our neighbors and friends who do not know You.
But Father, on this day of prayer for the persecuted church, we pause to also remember that Your goodness and faithfulness do not always look like ease and comfort. We know You are righteous in all Your ways. But we know also that millions of Your people around the world face potential torture, imprisonment, mistreatment, and even threat of death because of their faith in You. Lord, would you uphold those who are falling and raise up those who are bowed down? We pray that whatever dangers and sorrows they face, that they would sense that You are near when they call, that You would hear their cry and save them. O Lord, we ask You to preserve those who love You and put a stop to the wicked. But we also know that it’s often in the darkest of places where Your kingdom grows fastest. We pray that it would be so, that Your church would grow and thrive in the places where authorities seek to extinguish Your light, and that as their communities see the faith of Your people put to the test, they would be drawn to know You for themselves. We also pray specifically for our global partners who serve closed countries in southeast Asia. We ask for protection and empowerment for them and for the national believers they are working with, that through their work and through Your Word, Your church would continue to grow in these dark places.
We are thankful, Father, for the freedom we have in our own country to gather without fear, to tell others about You, and even to have a voice through our elections into the governing of our nation. We confess, though, that too frequently this freedom and relative ease lulls us into complacency and apathy. Forgive us, and help us instead to leverage the opportunities we have to be Your witnesses and Your Body in this area where You’ve placed us. We ask that You give us wisdom by Your Spirit as we vote, that we would not be swayed by fine-sounding arguments or partisan allegiance but by Your truth and by a desire for the welfare of our communities. Whoever is elected, we pray that our officials would lay aside personal agendas and power struggles and work together to make our cities into places where all people can flourish and where Your gospel can go forth unhindered. And Father, as we see the imperfect candidates on our ballots and the divisiveness in our country, we are so thankful that You are the true King and that it is Your Kingdom that will endure throughout all generations.
We pray all of this in the name of Jesus, and all God’s people said, Amen.