Faithbase

Good morning and welcome to our morning prayer time. We're going to continue to pray the Bible, looking at Psalm 2, and I want to read the first three verses and then we'll enter into a time of prayer. Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle, the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Let us break their chains, they cry, and free ourselves from slavery to God. Heavenly Father, we come before you in prayer this morning and we acknowledge, Lord, that you are the ruler of the nations. We acknowledge that all authority has been given to you, Lord Jesus, in heaven and on earth and that you are the one who determines all events. You are the one who controls all things to bring about your purposes. Lord, we know from the Scripture that even the anger of mankind accomplishes your purposes. We know, Lord God, that when the nations are angry, and we see this today, Heavenly Father, we see that there is war, there is upheaval, there is all kinds of unrest around the world, and the nations truly are angry, Lord God. There are nations that oppress your people, there are nations that deny the existence of God, there are nations and people groups that embrace false gods and embrace the behaviors that go with the denial of God. So we pray, Lord God, that even though the nations are angry, even though nations are in upheaval, even though their plans to oust the king of the kings, the ruler of the universe, are futile, we ask, Lord God, that we who claim the name of Jesus Christ can be at peace, can rest in the knowledge that you are in control, and continue to do our very best to bring our own life under your authority to show the nations around, the people around us in the nations in which we live and the communities in which we live, Lord God, to show them that a life under Jesus Christ's authority and rule is a life of peace. Lord, the kings of the earth prepare for battle, they plot against you. It may seem to the untrained eye, I guess you could say, that the things that go on are simply a matter of geopolitics or whatever, but the truth is, Lord God, humanity, apart from Jesus Christ, is at enmity with God. Humanity, apart from relationship with Jesus Christ, is at war with God, and I pray, Heavenly Father, that the plans that they make, the things that they do in order to rid themselves of any vestige of Christian behaviors, any shred, you might say even, of the rule of God in their life, that those things will be shown to be futile. Lord, the push toward making the central powers, the central governments, the primary authority in the lives of people, Lord, that again is a war against you. It is an attempt to usurp the authority of our Lord God, and we pray that you would stop that, Lord God. Your scripture is very clear that those plans are futile, that to rail against God and against his Christ, those things come to naught, and so we pray, Lord God, that their cries to rally around a central power apart from God's authority would be quieted, that their attempt to break the chains that they perceive as chains would be futile as well, that that would not be a successful endeavor on the part of the nations and a part of the people who live their lives apart from you, Lord. Lord, there is no slavery in relationship to you, but is a loving relationship of obedience out of gratitude, as we've talked about before, Lord. I know, Lord God, that you are in control of all things, and I pray that this morning, that as we look to your scripture and are reminded of the futility of those who propose you, that we would not forget that on our day-to-day basis. It is so easy to become anxious, to become worried as we look at the news, as we look at what seems to be just chaos in so many nations, both at the government level and just at the society, Lord, but we know, Heavenly Father, that all things work together for the good, for those who love the Lord, those who are called according to your purpose, that all things are for your glory and for our benefit, and our benefit is to be more like Jesus Christ. So, Lord, I pray that this morning, as we think about the the current events that we are living through, that we would turn our eyes to you, Lord Jesus, turn our eyes to you in confidence and in peace, knowing, Lord God, that no matter what the rulers of the world might think, no matter what the rulers of the world might do, that you remain in control and that your will shall be done. We thank you for this and we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.