o canada...

Watching the nightly news and the rehash of shenanigans going on in the parliament of Canada in the last few days leaves me feeling confused and embarrassed – like a kid being forced to watch parents fight. And so these words today, from the sidebar of the new Bible my hubby bought me for my birthday (New Spirit Filled Life Bible - NKJV), grabbed my attention:

Prayer and intercession are intricately woven into the fabric of the Psalms, as they are to be woven into the daily life of the believer. Take your concerns, your praise, your needs, and those of others to the Father. He cares for you. Then take the next step and ask God to show you how to pray for the things on His heart. Be willing to stand in the gap, praying that the way things are will become the way God wants them to be (emphasis mine).

So I ask, how does God want things to be in nations, in my nation, Canada?

Here are some principles about nations and leadership (I list just a few; there are many more):

1. We are to respect and obey governments and rulers as set in place by God (Romans 13:1).

2. We are to submit ourselves to governing authorities (Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13).

3. God is sovereign and moves the hearts of rulers and kings according to His purposes (Proverbs 21:1).

4. Justice gives a nation stability, but greed and bribery tear a country apart (Proverbs 29:4).

5. Rulers are to respect laws that are in place versus manipulating them to suit their cause. (Hosea 5:10).

6. National dishonesty, injustice and unrighteousness separate a nation from God and remove His blessing from it (Isaiah 59; Jeremiah 5).

7. It behooves followers of God to live righteously and to thus bless the nation in which they live (Proverbs 11:11).

8. We are called to be intercessors / gap-fillers for our nation (Ezekiel 22:30,31; Isaiah 59.16).

So, God, I pray for Canada and its leaders, who have been placed there by You. I pray that all our leaders will receive a personal message of God’s love.

I pray that Godly leaders will discover spiritual wisdom to govern our nation, and that leaders who are unrighteous and unjust will make mistakes and follow unsound advice. I pray, further, that those leaders who have gone along with corrupt schemes will own up to their ways, and that these methods and schemes will be fully exposed and pulled out by the root so that this curse will be removed from us.

I pray that You will convict us, Your people, of apathy and prayerlessness. May we not add to those sins, the sin of unwise and impulsive speech which fans flames of confusion and dissension. Rather, convict us to speak to You, and stand in the gap for Canada during this confusing time. Through all this I pray Your will be done in Canada as it is in heaven. Amen.