Pray for the World

Nov 14th 2015

pray-for-paris-2#PrayforParis has been trending on Twitter and Facebook. Lynn and I spent time Friday night watching the unfolding events in Paris. Such a tragedy. But perhaps it should be #PrayfortheWorld. This isn’t the first or even the worst terrorist attack in 2015. Ten other times in 2015 at least 100 people have died in a terrorist attack. Boko Haram and ISIL account for all those attacks but one. In April Al-Shabaab (Al-Queda offshoot) attacked mostly Christians at the Garissa University in Kenya killing 147. #PrayfortheWorld

Of course all of that pales when compared to the almost 5.5 million children under the age of 5 who have died in 2015 from preventable poverty conditions. About 1/2 of those deaths are from malnutrition and lack of clean water. #PrayfortheWorld

And it’s not just about deaths, it’s also about life. We could talk about 17.9 million children who are true orphans (lost both parents). We could talk about racism. We could talk about drug addictions. #PrayfortheWorld

But do we…pray for the world? We should.

  • We should pray for the world because we have a global God. The prophet Habakkuk said that one day the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God just as the waters fill the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
  • We should pray for the world because even though we may not know anyone in the part of the world where a tragedy has taken place, we know Jesus. He is there. When we care about them, we care about Him. (Matthew 25)
  • We should pray for the world because we have a world-wide mission. The God who loves the whole world (John 3:16) has called us to go to the whole world to tell them about Jesus. (Matthew 24:14)
  • We should pray for the world because it matters. I don’t understand how or why but I know that God has chosen to respond to our prayers. (James 5:16-18)
  • We should pray because our battle is a spiritual battle and it ultimately requires a spiritual solution. (Ephesians 6).

So don’t make the statement “I’ll pray for you” the equivalent of “In this moment I care at least a little about you.” Turn your care into prayer and pray for the world.