This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me.  He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.   Jeremiah 18:1-10

If there was ever a time for the church of Jesus Christ to intercede and pray for our nation, it is now.  The Lord is sovereign over all things.  He’s the one who establishes nations and uproots them.  In His eyes, they are as influential as “a drop in the bucket” or “a speck of dust on the scales” as Isaiah 40:15 points out to us.  Have you ever thought of your country like this?  From our perspective as individual citizens, nations wield great power and authority, and it seems as if one person would be unable to bring about any change.

But Christians can impact a nation with prayer. In fact, the way we can play a part in reversing the downward trajectory of a nation is by interceding for those in authority.  Paul urges the church to pray.  Listen:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made or all people— for kings and all those in authority,  – Why? – that we may live peaceful  and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Well that kind of sounds self-serving, doesn’t it?  But no. Paul then says in the very next verse,

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.       1 Timothy 2:1-4

As long as we have a country that is filled with anger, mayhem, and death, people’s ears are being blocked by emotions that have taken over.

The good news, however, is that the Lord has the power to turn a nation back to Himself, and amazingly, he often uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His will. As James 5:16 tells us, The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  How are we faithfully appealing to God and interceding on behalf of our country’s leaders?