Category: NIV First Person

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Ministers of God’s Holy Word and Sacraments

Intercession 5.17 | NIV

For all the ministers of God’s holy word and sacraments, the masters of assemblies.

Teach your ministers how they ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, 1 Timothy 3:15(NIV) that they may not preach themselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, 2 Corinthians 4:5(NIV) and may do their best to present themselves to God as approved, workmen who do not need to be ashamed and who correctly handle the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15(NIV)

Grant them a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, Acts 18:24(NIV) that by them they may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, 2 Timothy 3:17(NIV) in their teaching showing integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. Titus 2:7-8(NIV)

Enable them to devote themselves to reading, to preaching, to teaching; 1 Timothy 4:13(NIV) to be diligent in these matters; 1 Timothy 4:15(NIV) to give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word; Acts 6:4(NIV) to give themselves wholly to them, and to persevere in them, that they may save both themselves and their hearers. 1 Timothy 4:15-16(NIV)

Let words be given to them, so that they may open their mouths and fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, that they may declare it as they should, Ephesians 6:19-20(NIV) as competent ministers of the new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; 2 Corinthians 3:6(NIV) and let them obtain mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy. 1 Corinthians 7:25(NIV)

Let their arms stay strong and limber because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob; Genesis 49:24(NIV) and let them be filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, Micah 3:8(NIV) to declare to your people their rebellion and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1(NIV)

Make them sound in the faith, Titus 1:13(NIV) and enable them always to teach what is in accord with sound doctrine, Titus 2:1(NIV) gently instructing those who oppose them; and let not the Lord’s servants quarrel; instead, let them be kind to everyone and able to teach. 2 Timothy 2:24-25(NIV)

Make them good examples to the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity; 1 Timothy 4:12(NIV) and let them be pure who carry the vessels of the LORD, Isaiah 52:11(NIV) and let HOLY TO THE LORD be written upon their foreheads. Exodus 28:36(NIV)

Lord, grant that they may not labor to no purpose or spend their strength in vain and for nothing, Isaiah 49:4(NIV) but let the Lord’s hand be with them, that many may believe and turn to the Lord. Acts 11:21(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for your Judges and Judicial Rulers

Intercession 5.16 | NIV

For the magistrates, the judges, and justices of peace in the several counties and corporations.

Make those who rule over my nation righteous, ruling in the fear of God; 2 Samuel 23:3(NIV) and let those who judge remember that they are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with them whenever they give a verdict, that therefore the fear of the LORD may be upon them. 2 Chronicles 19:6-7(NIV)

Make them capable men – men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, Exodus 18:21(NIV) so that justice may roll on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24(NIV)

Enable my nation’s magistrates to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, to maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed, to rescue the weak and needy, and to deliver them from the hand of the wicked; Psalm 82:3-4(NIV) and let rulers never be a terror to good works, but to the evil. Romans 13:4(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for all who are Employed in the Conduct of Public Affairs

Intercession 5.15 | NIV

For the advisers, cabinet members, members of Congress or Parliament, the ambassadors and envoys abroad, and all who are employed in the conduct of public affairs.

Counsel my nation’s counselors, and teach its elders wisdom: Psalm 105:22(NIV) O give them a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD, to enable them to delight in the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2-3(NIV)

O do not silence the lips of trusted advisers nor take away the discernment of elders, Job 12:20(NIV) nor ever let what would bring the nation peace be hidden from the eyes of those who are instructed with the nation’s counsels. Luke 19:42(NIV)

Make it to appear that you preside in the great assembly and judge among the “gods,” Psalm 82:1(NIV) and that when the nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, the God of Abraham himself is among them; and let the kings of the earth belong to the Lord, that he may be greatly exalted. Psalm 47:9(NIV)

Let those who are of my nation build the ancient ruins and raise up the age-old foundations; that they may be called Repairers of the Broken Walls and Restorers of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58:12(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Safe and Righteous Continuation of your Civil Government

Intercession 5.14 | NIV

For the safe and righteous continuation of my nation’s civil government, that a blessing may attend it, that peace and truth may be established in our days and secured to posterity, and that the hopes of our adversaries and all their aiders and abettors may be extinguished.

Lord, preserve to us the lamp which you have set up for your Anointed One, Psalm 132:17(NIV) so the next generation would know you, even the children yet to be born, that they would put their trust in God and keep his commands. Psalm 78:6-7(NIV)

Let the gospel-believing church abide before God forever: O appoint love and faithfulness to protect it, then will we ever sing praise to your name. Psalm 61:7-8(NIV) Thus, let the Lord save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and the children of your servants will inherit it, and those who love your name will dwell there. Psalm 69:35-36(NIV)

Let the design of those who would choose a leader to go back to Egypt, Numbers 14:4(NIV) be again defeated; and let not the fatal wound that has been given to the beast be healed anymore. Revelation 13:11-12(NIV)

Let our eyes see Jerusalem, the city of our festivals, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved: Let none of its stakes be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. Let the LORD be our Mighty One and be to us like a place of broad rivers and streams; for the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. Isaiah 33:20-22(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for your Head of State

Intercession 5.13 | NIV

For all orders and degrees of men, and all I stand in any relation to.

For my nation’s Head of State, that God will protect his person, preserve his health, and continue his life and government long a public blessing.

Endow our ruler with your justice, O God, and your righteousness, Psalm 72:1(NIV) that he may defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. Psalm 72:4(NIV)

Let his rule be established through righteousness, Proverbs 25:5(NIV) and made secure through love. Proverbs 20:28(NIV) Give him long life and length of days, forever and ever; and through the victories you give, may his glory be great. Make him glad with the joy of your presence: through the unfailing love of the Most High let him not be shaken. Psalm 21:4-7(NIV)

Clothe his enemies with shame, but let him be resplendent; Psalm 132:18(NIV) and continue him long, very long, a foster father to your Israel. Isaiah 49:23(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Healing of your Nation’s Unhappy Divisions and Success Against your Nation’s Enemies

Intercession 5.12 | NIV

For the healing of my nation’s unhappy divisions and the making up of its breaches.

For the divisions that are among us, there are great searchings of heart; Judges 5:16(KJV) for there are three against two and two against three in a family. Luke 12:52(NIV) But is our wound as wide as the sea, which cannot be healed? Lamentations 2:13(NIV) Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? Jeremiah 8:22(NIV) Lord, mend the fractures of our land, for it is quaking. Psalm 60:2(NIV)

I beg in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that there may be no divisions among us, but that we may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10(NIV)

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give us a spirit of unity among ourselves as we follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 15:5-6(NIV) and promote the salvation we share. Jude 1:3(NIV)

Lord, keep us from judging one another and looking down on one another, Romans 14:10(NIV) and enable us to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification; Romans 14:19(NIV) that living in love and peace, the God of love and peace may be with us. 2 Corinthians 13:11(NIV)

Let nothing be done out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but everything in humility; Philippians 2:3(NIV) and grant that my gentleness may be evident to all, because the Lord is near. Philippians 4:5(NIV)

For victory and success against my nation’s enemies abroad who seek its ruin.

Rise, O LORD! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you; but return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of your Israel. Numbers 10:35-36(NIV)

Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. Through God let our forces gain the victory; indeed, let God himself trample down our enemies, Psalm 60:11-12(NIV) and give them as dust to our sword and as windblown chaff to our bow. Isaiah 41:2(KJV)

Let us be a people saved by the LORD, our shield and helper and our glorious sword; Deuteronomy 33:29(NIV) and make our enemies sensible that the Lord fights for us against them. Exodus 14:25(NIV)

Those who risk their lives for us on the heights of the field, Judges 5:18(NIV) train their hands for war and their fingers for battle; Psalm 144:1(NIV) give them the shield of your victory, and let your right hand sustain them, Psalm 18:35(NIV) and shield their heads in the day of battle. Psalm 140:7(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Moral Decency and Civility of your Nation

Intercession 5.11 | NIV

For the success of all endeavors for the reformation of manners, the suppression of vice and profaneness, the support of religion and virtue, and the bringing of them into reputation.

O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. Psalm 7:9(NIV) Spirit many to rise up for you against the wicked and to take a stand for you against evildoers. Psalm 94:16(NIV)

Let the Redeemer come to Zion and turn godlessness away from Jacob; Romans 11:26(NIV) and let the filth of Jerusalem be cleansed from its midst by the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of fire. Isaiah 4:4(NIV)

Let all wickedness shut its mouth; Psalm 107:42(NIV) and let the infection of that plague be checked by intervening judgment. Psalm 106:30(NIV)

Let those who are striving against sin never grow weary or lose heart. Hebrews 12:3-4(NIV)

Remove the spirit of impurity from the land, Zechariah 13:2(NIV) and purify the lips of the people, that they may call on the name of the LORD. Zephaniah 3:9(NIV)

Set your people in praise, fame, and honor high above all the nations by making us a holy people to the LORD our God. Deuteronomy 26:19(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Continuance of your Nation’s Outward Peace and Tranquility

Intercession 5.10 | NIV

For the continuance of my nation’s outward peace and tranquility, its liberty and plenty, for the prosperity of its trade, and a blessing upon the fruits of the earth.

Let God himself be a wall of fire around us and the glory within us; Zechariah 2:5(NIV) yes, let his gospel be our glory, and over that glory let there be a canopy; and create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night. Isaiah 4:5(NIV)

May there be peace within our walls and security within our citadels, Psalm 122:7(NIV) the prosperity both of merchandise and husbandry, that Zebulun may rejoice in his going out and Issachar in his tents. Deuteronomy 33:18(NIV)

Make salvation for us our walls and ramparts; and, to that end, let the gates be opened that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. Isaiah 26:1-2(NIV)

Make peace our governor and righteousness our ruler; let violence never be heard in our land, nor ruin or destruction within our borders, but let us call our walls Salvation and our gates Praise: Isaiah 60:17-18(NIV) Never let our land be called Deserted and Desolate, but let the Lord take delight in us, and let our land be married to him. Isaiah 62:4(NIV)

Let our peace be like a river and, to that end, our righteousness like the waves of the sea. Isaiah 48:18(NIV) Let that righteousness abound among us that exalts a nation, and deliver us from sin, which is a disgrace to any people. Proverbs 14:34(NIV)

Never make our skies like bronze and our ground like iron, Deuteronomy 28:23(NIV) nor take away your grain when it ripens and your new wine when it is ready; Hosea 2:9(NIV) but give us rain moderately, both autumn and spring rains in season, Joel 2:23(NIV) and assure us of the regular weeks of harvest, Jeremiah 5:24(NIV) giving us fair weather also in its season. Let our land yield its increase and the trees their fruit, that we may eat all the food we want and live in safety in our land. Leviticus 26:4-5(NIV)

Bless us with abundant provisions, and satisfy our poor with food, Psalm 132:15(NIV) that those who harvest it may eat it and praise the LORD. Isaiah 62:9(NIV) Do not blow it away, for then when we expect much, it will turn out to be little; Haggai 1:9(NIV) but bless our blessings, that all the nations may call us blessed and a delightful land. Malachi 3:10-12(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray Earnestly for National Mercies and the Blessing of the Gospel Ministry in your Nation

Intercession 5.9 | NIV

I must pray earnestly for national mercies.

For the favors of God to my nation and the tokens of his presence among us, as that in which our happiness is bound up.

O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, do not be like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who stays only a night; but be always in the midst of your people: We bear your name, do not forsake us! Although our sins testify against us, yet do something for the sake of your name; though our backsliding is great, and we have sinned against you. Jeremiah 14:7-9(NIV)

Restore us to yourself, O Lord God of hosts, and then make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. O awaken your might; come and save us. Psalm 80:2-3(NIV)

Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation; Psalm 85:7(NIV) yes, let that salvation be near those who fear you, that your glory may dwell in our land. Let love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other: Let faithfulness spring forth from the earth and righteousness look down from heaven. Indeed, let the LORD give what is good: Let righteousness go before him and prepare the way for his steps. Psalm 85:9-13(NIV)

For the continuance of the gospel among us and the means of grace, and a national profession of Christ’s holy religion.

O let the throne of Christ endure forever among us, Psalm 45:6(NIV) even the place of your sanctuary, that glorious throne exalted from the beginning. Jeremiah 17:12(NIV)

Let our lampstand never be removed from its place, though that is what we deserve, because we have forsaken our first love. Revelation 2:4-5(NIV) Never do to us as you did to your place in Shiloh, where you first made a dwelling for your name. Jeremiah 7:12(NIV)

Let us never know what a famine of the word means; nor ever be made to stagger from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, searching for the word of God. Amos 8:11-12(NIV)

Let wisdom and knowledge be the sure foundation of our times and a rich store of salvation, and let the fear of the LORD be our treasure: Isaiah 33:6(KJV) Let the righteous flourish among us, and let there be those who will fear you in our land, as long as the sun and the moon endure, through all generations, Psalm 72:5(NIV) that prosperity may abound, Psalm 72:7(NIV) and the children not yet created may praise the Lord. Psalm 102:18(NIV)

Categories
Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Pray for the Nations of the World and for your Own Nation

Intercession 5.8 | NIV

For surrounding nations and all the countries of the world.

You, LORD, rule over the nations: Psalm 22:28(NIV) Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? Jeremiah 10:7(NIV) You sit on your throne, judging righteously; Psalm 9:4(NIV) judge the world therefore in righteousness, and govern the peoples with justice. Psalm 9:8(NIV)

Lord, hasten the time when you will make wars cease to the ends of the earth; Psalm 46:9(NIV) when nation will not take up sword against nation, nor kingdom against kingdom, but swords will be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks, and they will not train for war anymore. Isaiah 2:4(NIV)

Make kings foster fathers, and their queens nursing mothers, to the Israel of God. Isaiah 49:23(NIV)

And in the time of these kings, let the God of heaven set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, even the kingdom of the Redeemer. Daniel 2:44(NIV) And whatever purposes there are in men’s hearts, Lord, let your purposes prevail, Proverbs 19:21(NIV) and fulfill the purposes of your heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11(NIV)

For my own land and nation, which I ought in a special manner to seek the welfare of, that in its peace, your church in this land may have peace.

I must be thankful to God for his mercies to my land.

I bless you that you have planted me on a fertile hillside, Isaiah 5:1(NIV) and have not given me the wasteland as my home or the salt flats as my habitat, Job 39:6(NIV) but the land I inhabit yields its harvest. Psalm 85:12(NIV)

Lord, you have shown favor to my land. Psalm 85:1(NIV) I have heard with my ears, and my fathers in the faith have told me, what work you did for your church in their days, and in days long ago; Psalm 44:1(NIV) and as I have heard, so have I seen, for within your temple, O God, I have meditated on your unfailing love. Psalm 48:8-9(NIV)

You have given your church a desirable land, Jeremiah 3:19(NIV) it is Immanuel’s land, Isaiah 8:8(NIV) it is a valley of vision; Isaiah 22:1(NIV) you have put your sanctuary among us, and your dwelling place is with us. Ezekiel 37:26-27(NIV)

We live in safety under our own vine and fig tree, 1 Kings 4:25(NIV) and there is peace to him who goes out and to him who comes in. 2 Chronicles 15:5(KJV)

And because the LORD loved my people, therefore he has set a good government over us, to maintain justice and righteousness, 1 Kings 10:9(NIV) to be a terror to evildoers and a protection and praise to those who do well. Romans 13:3(NIV)

I must be humbled before God for my nation’s sins and provocations.

But my nation is a sinful people, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers; Isaiah 1:4(NIV) and a great deal of reason we have to grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done among us. Ezekiel 9:4(NIV)

Wickedness increases among us, and the love of many has grown cold. Matthew 24:12(NIV)

We have not been forsaken nor forgotten by God, though our land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. Jeremiah 51:5(NIV)