Day 10 : That your reign come in me church, and the city where I screew !

A next aspect is that if we belong to a local church, we can pray for it, especially for the elders and those who lead us.

Let us be careful not to simply pray what we think 'the pastor' would like us to pray for, but that we can truly put ourselves before God to know his thoughts for our brothers and sisters and his vision of the Church.

This is not an easy prayer, since very often the church model that most of us know has very little resemblance to the model we find in the New Testament ... Of course, if we really want to To pray seriously for the Church, we must be open to what God wants to teach us about his way of seeing it, something that may be very different from our initial vision ... Let us not forget to pray for Workmen, since it was Jesus Himself who commanded us ! (Matt 9:38).

Our prayers may also extend to the city where we live (see Jeremiah 29: 7 : "Seek the good of the city where I have led you into captivity, and pray to the Lord in his favor, because your happiness depends on His own."

Pray for schools and for teachers.

Let us pray for the authorities in the city (1 Tim 2: 1-2), which of course also implies the authorities of the country. We find the answer to the 'why pray for the authorities' in the verses that follow: 1 Tim 2: 3-4 : "It is good and acceptable before God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and come To the knowledge of the truth. "A good government allows an atmosphere in which it is easier to spread the Good News !

Let us pray for the doctors, be they attentive to the good diagnoses, for the 'notables' : lawyers, notaries, managers of companies. For integrity and honesty. Let us also pray that those who have a 'hidden' faith but do not know how to express it, can know the Lord, how He wishes to be known, and can deliver them from the fortresses, fears, prejudices, doctrines in which They are so often imprisoned.

Let us not forget to pray for the gendarmes and the national police. Yes ! They do not have an easy task, and are often faced with contempt, sarcasm and even violence. But imagine a country without gendarmes ! The Bible tells us in Romans 13: 3-4 : "It is not for good deeds, but for evil, that magistrates are to be feared. Wilt thou not fear authority ? Do it well, and you will have his approval. The magistrate is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, fear ; For it is not in vain that he bears the sword, being a servant of God to exercise vengeance and punish him who does evil.".

We shall see afterwards other aspects of this prayer, "Thy kingdom come ...".

"Lord, I pray that your kingdom will come and your will be done in my church, and in the city / region where I live. I also pray for the authorities, the judges, the gendarmes, that you can bring them to justice, honesty, righteousness and compassion. In the name of Jesus, amen !"

René de Groot