seated with Christ

The call to pray for the nations

“Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8 NIV)

It is hard to comprehend what a magnanimous heart God has when one considers the verse “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Think about it. The world, the entire world includes 196 nations and the 7 billion people who inhabit them. That takes a whole lot of love. Something only Jesus could accomplish through His death on the cross, burial and resurrection. And it is His ultimate intention that “all the nations, whom [He] has made shall come and worship before [Him].” (Psalm 86:9)

Even a cursory reading of the Bible immediately conveys this loving concern God carries for the nations of the world. We are explicitly told in Psalm 66 that “His eyes keep watch on the nations.” (vs. 7) In nearly every book of the Bible we find the evidence of this heart expressed through prophetic utterances and/or divine initiatives to both reveal Himself and draw nations through repentance and faith toward Himself. From His Old Testament promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the world through him, to the New Testament command of Jesus that the gospel of the kingdom be proclaimed throughout the entire world, we see His unshakeable purpose to make the nations His inheritance. Again, that is a whole lot of love! How can He possibly do that?

His choice is to do it through the instrumentation of prayer and intercession. From the book of Genesis forward we find God looking for individuals to answer His call to become intercessors on behalf of His purposes for the nations. Just consider the intercessory ministries of the likes of Noah, Moses, Daniel, Nehemiah, the prophets, Paul and the apostles. “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance” He pleads. (Psalm 2:8) “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one,” He declares through Ezekiel. (22:30 NIV) “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him.” (Isaiah 59:16 ESV) And with that He calls forth His son Jesus who alone is able to save and who “ever lives to make intercession.” (Hebrews 7:25)

The call to pray for the nations Read More »

What it means to pray with Jesus.

“Could you not watch with Me one hour?” Mark 14:38

This Holy Week we are once again invited to take the journey with Jesus to the Last Supper, into the Garden of Gethsemane and then to ascend the hill of Golgotha to the cross. In my last blog post I shared how when Jesus initially called His disciples, and us, His first and primary intention was, and always will remain, that we simply be with Him. And I made the point that being with Him is expressed most naturally through relating to Him in prayer, just as He related to the Father.

The very last time Jesus was with His disciples, pre-crucifixion, that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, He renewed that “be with” calling in a way that has been indelibly etched in the heart of every follower of Christ. Knowing He would no longer be with them in the natural, He was preparing them for a post resurrection relationship with Him in the Spirit. One of the last things He said to Peter, James and John in the Garden that night was “remain here and keep watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38) He then moved further beyond them “about a stone’s throw away,” knelt falling with His face to the ground and began praying with such fervency that “His sweat became like drops of blood.”

When He arose from prayer He came back to the three and found them sleeping. It was then that He said these oft-quoted and hauntingly powerful words “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Matthew 26: 40)

The two words that I want to give special consideration to in this meditation are “with Me.” In the Gethsemane account in the book of Matthew we see in the space of three verses Jesus urging His disciples to watch and prayer using the “with Me” reference two successive times. (vs. 38 & 40)

What it means to pray with Jesus. Read More »

Scroll to Top