“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
In the midst of evil, don't be anxious. Don't be fearful. Instead, take your cares to the Lord. This is what we are commanded to do.
But what, and how, should we pray in the face of evil?
The first thing is to remember who we are praying to. Our God is sovereign, holy, merciful, and just. Our prayers should reflect the truth that God is good, cares about his creation, and uses his power righteously: the Judge of all the earth shall indeed do right (Genesis 18:25). According to Hebrews 11:6, “he is, and ... he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Secondly, we should offer our prayers with faith and fervor (James 5:17-18), pouring out our heart and its desires before him (Psalm 62:8).
When I say we should pray with faith, I am speaking of praying with confidence that we will be heard, based on our objective standing in Christ, and walking in fellowship with him in righteousness. We are told God’s ears are open to the prayers and cries of the righteous. (See Psalm 4:3, 34:15, 17, 65:2, 66:17-20, Proverbs 15:29, 28:9, book of Isaiah 1:15, 59:2, James 4:3, 1 Peter 3:7-12, 1st Epistle of John 5:14, 15, etc.).
And praying in faith means believing that God will do what is best for his glory and our good—whether that means answering our prayer according to what we desire, or not, for he causes all things to work together for good of them that love him (Romans 8:28), and his eternal purposes will stand.
I make a distinction between this view of faith, and that which simply says, “God can” (for of course he can). Nor is this a presumption that says, “God will give me exactly what I ask. I name it and claim it.” It is to come to God in humility, taking comfort in the fact that he hears me and cares for me (1 Peter 5:7), and trusting that the Judge of all the earth will do right (see Genesis 18:25, Psalm 145:17-20).
Some of us have a tendency to presume we know God wants to change our circumstances, and not us. But some of us presume we know God wants to change us, and not our circumstances. We are hesitant to actually ask for what we desire, almost certain God will tell us no, so we do not pray with fervor according to the desire of our hearts.
I propose we set aside all our assumptions and follow the example of Scripture: and that is to pray fervently according to the real desire of our hearts, while ultimately being willing to accept whatever answer God chooses to give.
Hannah prayed for a child. David prayed for deliverance from his enemies. Paul repeatedly begged for a thorn in his flesh to be removed. The church prayed that Peter would be released from prison. Daniel prayed that God would forgive the sins of his people and restore them.
In the case of Hannah, she did not merely pray, “I don’t know what your will is in this situation, so I just pray that your will would be done.” She specifically asked—and asked fervently—for a child.
Paul, too, specifically asked that his thorn in the flesh be removed… and ultimately it wasn’t. But he accepted God’s choice in faith, knowing God acted righteously for his own glory—and Paul’s good.
In every prayer, every line should breathe with, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” There is not a problem with both asking God fervently for the specific desires of our heart (within his revealed, moral will), and ultimately praying for and accepting his answer, even if it doesn’t coincide with our desire. Until we know what God's will is (and most of us in the immediate circumstances don't), there need be no tension between praying God's will be done, and asking God for the desire of our hearts.
A verse in Isaiah 62 tells us to “give him no rest” as we seek God in prayer (v. 7). Christ presents the picture of a woman repeatedly “bothering” a judge to champion her cause, as the model for a believer's tenacity in prayer as he cries out to God to work on his behalf (see Luke 18:1-8). We are told that the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (see James 5:16-18).
Sometimes all these verses are comforting to us.
Other times, they seem to mock us. It feels like our prayers are hitting the ceiling, and nothing is changing. Evil appears to be winning. If you feel like this, you are not alone. Scripture records many instances in which the saints before us felt exactly the same way. The psalmist asked God why he stood far off. Why did he hide himself in times of trouble? Why were the wicked winning? (See Psalm 10, and Psalm 44:24).
Habakkuk the prophet cried out, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save?… Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:2, 13).
Asaph struggled with doubt as he saw the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Why did not God act?
He came to understand that the end of the wicked will not be a happy one, but the faith of the righteous would be rewarded (see Psalm 73).
We are told not to fret, nor be filled with wrath and anger over the flourishing of the wicked, but we are told to trust in the Lord and do good. We are to rest in him, and to wait patiently (see Psalm 37).
And part of doing good is to persevere in prayer. Don’t give up just because the wicked appear to be succeeding in their schemes. Evildoers will one day pass away and be no more. But the desire and hope of the righteous will endure and ultimately be fulfilled. “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11).
Pray for that day. It is coming. And as you pray for that day, pray against the evil in our nation, and across the world. Christians are the seasoning influence in society. We're the salt of the earth, the light on a hill. Every Christian in every generation is to oppose every form of evil, wherever it is found. The prayers of the people of God should play a role in restraining evil in our nation.
Some would say America deserves the judgment of God. This is true. So did the pagan nation of Babylon in ancient times. But how did God instruct his people to pray for that country?
“And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Book of Jeremiah 29:7).
We are to pray for the spiritual and physical prosperity of whatever country we find ourselves “sojourning” in. I've heard of Christians from other countries praying that God would visit America with persecution to refine believers. This is an unbiblical prayer.
In contrast, Paul exhorts us to pray for our leaders so that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Not once do we see an example of believers in Scripture praying for persecution; on the contrary, they prayed against it, and for deliverance from evil men (2 Thessalonians 3:2).
Suffering should be God's choice for us, not ours. That is, if we are to suffer, let it be because God permitted it for our good and his glory, not because we prayed it down on our own heads, or refused to pray against it out of a pietistic sense that “suffering is good for us.” Even Jesus prayed, “Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).
Finally, we must pray according to the pattern we see in Scripture. Here are some practical things to pray when we see evil flourish around us:
Pray that God would give opportunities for his gospel to go forward and be magnified.
Pray for the restraining of evil, and the flourishing of good.
Pray for your country's peace and prosperity (Book of Jeremiah 29:7).
Pray that you and your children can live quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty (1 Timothy 2:2).
Pray that you would be pleasing to the Lord, and honor him in every circumstance.
Pray that God would deliver you from temptation and evil (Matthew 6:13).
Pray that justice would be upheld in the land, and injustice lawfully addressed.
Pray that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Pray for Christ's coming (Revelation 22:20).
Pray for the nation's leaders. Ask God to save them. He is merciful, and it is the heart of God that men repent (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
Pray for God's justice on earth. Vengeance belongs to him. Scripture tells believers not to take their own revenge, but give place to God's wrath. God's people rejoice in the goodness of God in the overthrow of the wicked (see Proverbs 11:10, Revelation 19, 2 Thessalonians 1, Psalm 58:10, etc).
After you pray for the repentance of your leaders, there is a time and place for the imprecatory Psalms. But these prayers should be offered without wrath (1 Timothy 2:8) or fretting (Psalm 37), in response to the holiness of God and a desire for him to do his will and vindicate all that is righteous and punish all that is wicked.
So we must remember who we are praying to, we must offer our requests with faith, fervor, and patient steadfastness, and we must pray according to the revealed will of God.
We honor the sovereignty of God by exercising faith that he hears our prayers and is delighted to move on our behalf. We trust in his plan and his power to complete it, accepting and submitting to his will as it is revealed.
We honor the holiness of God by praying against evil and injustice rather than resigning ourselves to it in this world.
We honor the mercy of God by praying according to his heart that men would be saved and transformed.
And we honor the justice of God by entrusting vengeance to him, asking him to thwart the plans of the wicked and repay evildoers according to their deeds, and rejoicing in the judgments he executes.
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him...” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Endnotes:
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