𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Tell us about a friend or loved one you talk to regularly (e.g., daily or once a week). Why is it important for you to keep in touch with him or her?
• What’s one thing you would like to see happen in your nation? Why?
• How do you respond when things don’t go your way? Recall an instance explaining this.


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.𝟭 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝟮:𝟭–𝟰

If you’ve been active on social media in the last few years, you probably know that a lot of people mock the idea of prayer as a response to socio-political issues. “Prayer,” the argument goes, “is not enough. It doesn’t do much good in the real world. It’s just a cliché people use to conceal their idleness in response to tragedy and injustice.”

That accusation bites, not only because it might be true for some people but also because it exposes our own inadequacy when confronted with social issues that are beyond our capacities. But perhaps that is precisely the point. We pray because individually we don’t have the resources, power, time, and capacity to do something substantial for all kinds of issues at all times and in all places. We don’t always have the ability to do relief operations, provide counseling services, help in an animal shelter, lobby against domestic abuse, and do webinars on mental health while doing our jobs, raising our children, attending endless meetings, cooking healthy food, and volunteering in church every week. We need to pick just a few needs that are well within our capacity and pour our energy into them.

This is where prayer comes in. When we pray, we extend ourselves to places and concerns that we can’t personally reach. When we pray, we lobby our case before the throne of the God, who alone holds the power over every sphere in the world. Prayer, then, is our tacit admission that we are limited creatures who need the intervention of God in our human affairs. In other words, prayer is not only a functional response to our social problems. It should be first and foundational of all our responses.

What do we pray about? Depending on the needs of the hour, here is how we can start praying for our nation:

𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀.
“𝘖 𝘮𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺.” 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟵:𝟭𝟴

The best way to find the list of prayer points for the nation is to look at the headlines of the evening news or the trending hashtags on social media. While these sources don’t give the whole picture of reality, they do give us a clue of the cause of fear and anxiety among fellow citizens. Like Daniel who implored God for the sake of Jerusalem, bring these concerns before the Lord in prayer and plead for justice, healing, relief, and provision.

Many people overthink their prayer points and methods so much that they end up not praying. The only thing that you need to do in order to know how to pray is to pray. Open your mouth and say the words that you mean for God to hear. For example, you could just say “Lord, this issue is an injustice to the poor. Raise someone who would champion the cause of the marginalized of this nation.”

What specific social issues or injustices have you prayed about in the past? Why did you pray about them?

𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀.
𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱, “𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢.” 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘢 𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱, “𝘎𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵.” 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟴:𝟮𝟲–𝟮𝟵

The story of the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the most fascinating conversion stories in the New Testament. An angel of the Lord instructed Philip the evangelist to preach the gospel to a traveling court official of the kingdom of Ethiopia. While the biblical account ends after the water baptism of the eunuch, history shows that centuries later, Ethiopia had a vibrant church that some historians attribute to the conversion of the eunuch in Acts 8. This demonstrates that the salvation of one person in a position of prominence can be used by God to bless an entire nation.

Decades after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, the church would go through a period of severe persecution under the hands of Roman emperors. Followers of Jesus were driven to hiding, forced to fight in the arena as gladiators, and burned as human torches at imperial dinner parties. One day, the Roman emperor Constantine went to war and saw the symbol of the cross in the sky. When he came back victorious, he embraced Christianity and endorsed it as the official religion of the state. Many historians question whether or not Constantine was truly converted but no one could argue that because of him, crucifixion, gladiatorial shows, abandonment of infants, and rape were outlawed. Today, in the very amphitheater where thousands of Christians were sacrificed for sport, there stands a large cross—a silent testimony that when political leaders are gripped by the word of God, the nation can be changed. How did Philip’s obedience to the Holy Spirit change a nation? How do you think our obedience can change our nation?

𝟯. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀.
𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴; 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗦 𝟱:𝟮𝟯–𝟮𝟰

Amos is an Old Testament prophet who decried the shallow spirituality of the people of Israel while they allowed injustice and evil to be normalized in society. His rebuke for Israel should be trumpeted in churches today: louder praise and worship cannot compensate for the injustices and evil that we allow to take root in our nation. The people of God should take action and that action involves prayer and civic involvement. Prayer is a form of protesting to the highest authority in the universe; civic involvement is another form of protesting to the authority of the land.

This kind of prayer and civic involvement is geared towards persuading those in power to craft and enact laws that promote justice for the marginalized and righteousness for the vulnerable. What is one of the greatest ills in your nation, and what is your prayer for it?

𝟰. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.
𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝟭 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝟮:𝟭–𝟰

Some people frown at the idea of praying for leaders who don’t seem inclined to do right by the people. It’s sometimes easier to curse and hurl insults at them than to plead for God to change their minds. But in his letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged the church to pray for those in power, even when the emperor at the time of his writing was Nero, one of the great persecutors of the church. Doing this results in peaceful and quiet lives for the wider population.

In other words, the Bible teaches the connection between godly leadership and the quality of lives of ordinary citizens. When we pray for our leaders, we are extending the prayers for God to bless the entire nation. What is 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 and 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳?? What does God desire?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• Do you pray for your nation and the government officials? Why or why not? What’s one thing you would like to start doing, based on today’s lesson?
• What is your prayer for our nation? What is this anchored on?
• Ask two or three friends to pray with you for the civil government in your nation. Determine this week what you will pray for and how often you will pray together.


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for His divine purpose for your nation. Pray and believe God for this to be fulfilled.
• Pray for government officials you know by name. Ask God to surround them with godly influences. Pray that they will be saved and that they will implement just and righteous policies in the land.
• Pray for the citizens of your nation to flourish. Pray that they would know Christ and make Him known to others.