John MacArthur's Prayer for the President and the Nation

Our Father, we know the world is a troubled sea and it always has been. Peace, peace but there is no peace. Always sin casts up its mire and every troubled heart is joined with every other troubled heart to trouble the world. We know that this is, of course, a very special time of trouble, and this country stands on the brink of potential war and we do pray for our president as You’ve asked us to, and for those who are around him in authority, those who advise him, those who inform him. We pray that You’ll give them unusual wisdom and insight, provide them with all the necessary information to make a decision that is wise. I thank You for his boldness to fulfill his duty to protect the country, the nation, the people, and even the world from evil doers. We know that is the reason that You have established the sword—for the punishment of evil doers and the protection of those who are good. And You have said that the sword should not be wielded in vain. It is an instrument of protection—it’s to be used. And we know that our president understands that, and he understands his commitment to this nation’s safety and protection and we’re glad for that. And we pray for him in this time, that the decision he makes will be that decision which is most wise, given the circumstances of the world on a national and international level, and that it will be what You would have him to do as a servant of God who carries the sword. That he would act in behalf of what is right.

And we pray that somehow through all of this, whether it’s peace or war, there might be a national interest rising in the truth of the gospel. We can’t imagine how it could even happen when the churches are so weak and the Christianity that’s displayed on the media is so confusing. And the gospel presentation so often seems so utterly inept, and the hard hearts dominate the society and control so much and dictate the culture’s attitudes. But we know the gospel can prevail because You can prevail as a sovereign God. We make no easy truce with unrighteousness—we cry out to You for the glory of our Christ somehow in the midst of this.

So we pray for our leaders, we pray for our country, we pray for those who stand on the brink of war, we pray for those people on the edge over there in the Middle East who are thinking about death—may their thoughts turn to Christ, not just to religion and not just to faith in some vague way but may they turn to Christ who alone can save. We know that the fear of death can be a great catalyst for one to think about eternity, and we would trust that there would be opportunity for Christians among the military to share the gospel. We pray that You would use even this crisis time for Your own glory and we commend, again, our president and our leaders to You—and ourselves. May we not be part of the problem but part of the solution. May our gospel cry be so clear that though the world may reject it, they will reject the truth and not a false representation of it. So again we commend our leaders to You and ourselves in the name of Christ, amen.