Article December 10, 2018 Issue

To be a healer instead of a worrier: How I’m praying for world leaders

Terese Reiter Messman

It can be tempting to feel overwhelmed when we hear about world leaders who are in conflict with each other and sometimes at odds with the citizens they are governing. How can we think about “power players” who are making decisions that could have lasting consequences? I’ve been yearning to do much more than express heartfelt concern. I’ve been yearning to bring healing to our world.

I’m heartened by some Bible research I did recently on the word power that helped me gain a better understanding of how God governs. Particularly helpful was the idea that the Scriptures—from beginning to end—consistently attribute all power to God, who not only created the entire universe, but also maintains it.

A verse from Ephesians also spoke to my concerns: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (3:20, New Living Translation). This verse brings out the idea that God’s unlimited, mighty power is at work within us—not just having an effect within my own familiar circle or my own country, but working in all of us, including all world leaders and governments as well as their citizens.

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