The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet, concerning the nations.
– Jeremiah 46:1
This is the first verse of this chapter, and the rest of the chapter just contains words from God to Jeremiah about Egypt and about King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It’s a picture of God’s sovereignty over not just His people, the people of Israel in the Old Testament, but over all peoples, over all nations.
Jeremiah 46:1 reminds us we should pray for the nations of the world.
And I trust we know this, we who believe in Jesus, know even just a little bit about the Bible. We know God is sovereign over all the nations, and his Word applies to all the nations. But this should transform the way we view and respond to world news. So when you see headlines of news among the nations, see those headlines through the lens of God is sovereign over all of this. God’s Word is supreme and needs to be heard in all of these places, and we, as the church, have been given a commission, a responsibility, to make God’s Word known in all of these places.
So we need to pray toward that end. We need to pray for the nations. And we need to pray for the spread of God’s Word to the nations. We need to pray for people among all the nations to turn to God, to hear the gospel, and believe in Jesus. We have the opportunity, on a daily basis, to participate with God in what he is doing in all the nations where we read headlines about what’s going on here or there, or between nations. Wars and conflicts. We have been invited by God to intercede for these nations and to pray for them. Not just our own nation, but all the nations, just like we see here in Jeremiah 46.
Jeremiah 46:1 reminds us to pray for the spread of the gospel among the nations.
And so I just want to lead us to pray for different nations in a way that I hope will help you, when you read or hear news headlines or watch the news, that you will just immediately pray continually, that you’ll find yourselves praying, not just listening and receiving this information, but interceding for those nations, for God’s grace, for God’s mercy, justice, and ultimately for the spread of Jesus’ name in those nations.
So, may the kind of praying we’re about to do right now, become a regular part of our lives whenever we are exposed to the news, particularly news among the nations.
God, we praise you as the Sovereign King over all the nations. We want to faithfully intercede for the nations, the countries, and the people groups of this world. God, help us to view the world and world news through the lens of your sovereignty overall and the need for the gospel in it all. The need for your justice and your grace and your mercy in it all, ultimately in Jesus. So, God, as we see headlines about Russia, we pray for your mercy on Russia. We pray for justice in Russia. We pray for the spread of the gospel in Russia.
This verse reminds us to pray for nations in conflict.
God, we pray for your church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, in Russia. Please strengthen them. Help them to hold fast to you and to proclaim the gospel faithfully. God, we pray the same for Israel. Lord, we pray the same for Iran, for Lebanon, for Egypt. God, we pray for countries throughout the Middle East in the middle of conflict, and all these countries we’ve just prayed for, God, we pray for your church there, we pray for our brothers and sisters there. You would strengthen them, help them. God, we pray for wisdom for leaders. God, we pray for peace that only you can bring. We pray for the spread of the gospel.
So many people in those countries who don’t know you, who don’t know your love, in Jesus, God, we’re interceding right now for the nations. Please hear our prayers and answer, God, as we read news about bombings or terrorism in places like Somalia. God, have mercy in Somalia. Lord, we want to intercede faithfully for Somaliland. God, we pray for the spread of your grace and your love and your justice and your mercy, in Jesus, in Somalia.
As we read news here about North Korea. God, we pray, have mercy. God, have mercy on the people of North Korea. Please, oh God, bring about their good justice for them, mercy on them, the spread of the gospel freely to them. God, we pray for that in all these ways and more.
Prayer for the Unreached People Groups of the World
God, we want to pray for countries of the world, for people groups in the world, God. For the Shaikh of Bangladesh, all 132 million of them that are not reached by the gospel, for the Japanese of Japan, for the Turkish men and women and children of Turkey, for the Chamar of India, the Yadav of India, the Persians of Iran, the Sunda of Indonesia, the Hausa of Nigeria, the Shanghan of China, the Brahmin of India, Algerians, Pashtun in Pakistan and Afghanistan for Burmese and Myanmar for northern Uzbek, people in Uzbekistan. God, we pray, we intercede right now, for all these people groups.
God, please have mercy. Cause the gospel to spread to them, your Word, to spread to them. They need your Word, God. Jesus, you love them. You died to purchase them. Please bring about their salvation, and cause them to be reached with the gospel. Hear our prayers and answer and use our lives, God, however you want, our resources, however you want. Help us to spread your Word about the nations to the nations we pray. All of this in Jesus’ name and the name of the one who alone can bring redemption among all the nations. In the name of the Ruler all the nations need. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
