Prayer changes things. It can even “move mountains” (Mark 11:23-24).
Prayer is so important that Yeshua had a regular discipline of praying early in the morning before the sun came up (Mark 1:35). His primary “job” now is interceding for us in heaven (Romans 8:34).
Prayer changes us. It changes our will: “Not my will but Yours” (Matthew 26:39). It removes our sin (“forgive us our sins“), our un-forgiveness (“as we forgive others“), our tendency to sin (“lead us not into temptation”), and attacks against us (“deliver us from evil“) – Matthew 6:12-13.
Prayer changes the world around us. It moves the will of heaven down into the earth (Matthew 6:10). It moves angelic powers to change history (Daniel 9:20-23; Revelation 8:2-5). It can even stop the sun from moving (Joshua 10:11-13).
We are called to pray for all people, but particularly for government leaders and those in positions of authority. “First of all I urge you to lift up prayers and supplications and requests and thanksgiving for all men; for kings and the heads of authority…” – I Timothy 2:1-2. This is an issue of strategic priorities.
You can’t just pray one by one for every single person in the world. So obviously we would want to pray for those who have the largest amount of influence over other people. When we pray for government leaders, we in effect pray for all the people living in their nation or serving in their organization.
Who has the most influence and authority in the world today? Donald Trump probably is the foremost. What about US Vice-President Pence? – Or Guterres, the Portuguese UN General Secretary? – Or Pope Francis? – Or Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Germany’s Merkel? – Or the leader of whatever country you live in? In Israel we have Prime Minister Netanyahu, key government leaders like Bennet and Lapid, as well as Jerusalem Mayor Barkat.
Imagine how you could change the whole word by even such a small investment of fifteen minutes of daily, concentrated, faith-filled prayer for key people in government, business, religion and media! Pray for those who shape others’ opinions.
Our prayers can influence their decisions. Here is one key how to pray for them: Proverbs 21:1 – “The heart of the king is streams of water in the hand of YHVH; He will turn them wherever He desires.” Along with our prayers, God can influence government leaders, who will in turn influence those around them.
I encourage you to choose a small number of key leaders, and pray for them daily in a focused way. God will tilt them, turn them, bend them, cause them to make right decisions, and have them act according to His will even if they didn’t understand why. This is a very effective tactic to change our world for the better.
Asher serves as president of Tikkun Global family of ministries and congregations, dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church. He is founder of the Revive Israel five-fold ministry team, and oversees both Ahavat Yeshua and Tiferet Yeshua congregations in Israel.
He and his wife Betty share a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew, and unity of the Body of believers worldwide.
Asher was raised in a conservative Jewish home and holds degrees from Harvard University, Baltimore Hebrew College and Messiah Biblical Institute. He has authored numerous books, tracts and articles.