8 Powerful Ways to Pray for the USA

The USA was founded as a republic, which means that the supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives rather than a monarch. The USA’s constitution begins with that beautiful phrase, We the People, and continues with the ideals of justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty. The USA has always been a leader in helping other countries, both militarily and financially.

However, the USA also has immense trouble brewing because of fighting within its own boundaries. Most of this bickering is only seen on the news. Bad situations do happen and there is violence in a lot of places, but those incidences are often blown up to catastrophic proportions when you watch news programs. Thankfully, there are also many areas where saying hello and loving your neighbor is still a common occurrence. May those incidences grow and even become contagious.

Here are eight ways you can pray for the USA.

1. Pray for Leadership in the USA

A leader’s power is appointed by God and ultimately God rules over all leaders. Pray for those leaders to rule with godly wisdom. Humble them to realize that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and results in good judgment (Proverbs 9:10). Leaders are held to a higher standard than the people under them. Help them to humbly remember that just as easily as they stepped into leadership, they can be removed.

Dear Father God, You are the supreme leader of the world. Help our leaders in the USA take their rightful place underneath Your sovereignty. Guide them to lead with a reverent fear of You. For when they use Your statutes as the basis for their laws, a country will thrive. But when they think that they know best, their nation will fall. Help them to look to You before they make decisions.

And help them to look to the vast experience of the military as advisors.

A military is formed for the defense of a nation but then they are also called upon to offensively conquer enemies that cannot be fought any other way. The military is a brave, protective force and should always be respected.

Dear Lord, lead brave young people to step up and help protect the people and the goodness of the USA. Help the military leaders to bring their troops together with a tightly knit bond because strength is aided in numbers and unity.

3. Pray for the Police in the USA

Police men and women are the military in the domestic arena. Crime within the USA is rising and police are desperately needed.

Dear Father in Heaven, give the police strength and endurance to stand against crime and lawlessness. Humble people to accept their authority and respect them as people who are mainly there for protection. Remove any police man or woman that has divisive or destructive tendencies and leave the ones that are humble servants.

4. Pray for the Enemies of the USA

There are governments that don’t like the USA and some of those groups want to destroy it. There are good people within all countries of the world but there are also governments with evil regimes.

Dear Jesus, You told us to love our enemies. Our military keeps us as safe as possible so that Christians can pray for our enemies. No person or government is outside of Your reach, Lord. So touch all people, even our enemies, with Your love and grace so that they might come to a saving knowledge of You. Even when persecutions come, let us be like Stephen who prayed for his persecutors with his dying breath.

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Pastors of churches need to lead their people boldly and rightly. They need to never water down the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ. They need to preach the love of God while not omitting the need for all to repent. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. We all need to repent. Our current world tends to run from sound teaching into their own desires and feelings. They want to hear what they want to hear, not necessarily what’s best for them. Pastors need conviction to lift up the truth instead of bowing down to people’s wants.

Dear Lord, strengthen our pastors in the USA. Bolster their resolve to preach the undiluted gospel. Give them words that are more than just a pep talk. Help them to speak the words of life and the freedom of repentance.

6. Pray for the USA to Have Unity among Its People

Weakness unites people more than common strengths do. We all have weaknesses and we all sin. None of us are perfect. We all need each other to live our best lives. When God is our Lord, joy helps people to understand and forgive others.

Dear God, help us to live in harmony with each other. Erase lines of division. Help us to think godly thoughts of love and forgiveness. Begin by bringing unity with believers in the Lord Jesus and then let that spread to all other people so that more and more people might become believers in You.

7. Pray for Social Media to Be More Positive Than Negative

People need to think before they post. You can post what you feel but just don’t be in a rush to do it. Haste can make many misunderstandings, but patience can bring much clarity to your words. Wise words are like deep waters, flowing like a bubbling brook (Proverbs 18:4). So, use your words carefully.

Dear Lord, help people to spread this kind of fruit on social media: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). When people mix this fruit into their words, love for our neighbors becomes contagious.

If people who are called by the name of the Lord will humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, they will hear from heaven. He will forgive their sins and restore their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). We are never beyond the reach of a kind and sovereign God. When we realize that godliness makes a nation great and sin is a disgrace to all people (Proverbs 14:34), we can stop being so selfish and instead think of others more often than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4). Kindness will lead us to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander so that we can forgive one another just as God through Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:31-32).

Dear sovereign and great Lord, won’t you revive us again. Your people want to rejoice in You (Psalm 85:6). Help us to live a life of continual repentance so that we may live in Your presence. Revive Your people to call on Your name. Turn us toward You and away from our sin. Great Awakenings have miraculously happened in the past. Lord, bring us another one in our current day. Help us to be filled with awe of Your amazing works. Help us to be contrite and humble so You can restore us. Revive the courage of believers everywhere to share Your message of love. Bring the instruction of the Bible back into vogue. Create clean hearts that are washed by Your Living Water, Lord. Help us to step away from our filthiness and into the renewal of life with You for eternity.

The more we look toward the Lord and His ways, the more He will pour out His Spirit on people. His Spirit is for all who humbly ask Him for it. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:28-32). The more revival spreads, the more we can love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and then go out and spread that love to our neighbors (see the greatest commandments in Matthew 22:37-39). This is the will of Christ our Lord.

Earnest prayer has great power and produces wonderful results (James 5:16).

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