Praying for the Nations Part 2: Individual Prayer and Research

This month, my fourth graders continued to build on our study and the prayers we’ve offered for various nations!

Check out our prayers for Azerbaijan, Colombia, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Moroco, Nepal, and Nigeria here: Part one: A Month of Praying for the Nations

After praying for 12 nations in groups in December-early February, students prayed for a variety of other countries in which Christians are persecuted OR have fewer protections under the law.

For this assignment, students created individual prayers based on the needs of believers in specific nations. They celebrated each country’s culture and special characteristics, and offered prayers for a variety of topics.

Why not just study nations? Why is Prayer necessary?

It is my prayer that God would grow genuine love in my students’ hearts for these nations, and use their lives to serve the well being of the people there. While I’m sure some will become missionaries, their positive influence may be indirect, through business, working with international nonprofits, loving people of that nationality who have transplanted to the U.S., or in a variety of ways only God knows. My students know that I’ve prayed this form them, and while some might be skeptical, I still believe God wants to give them the nations.

In the West, we tend to be culturally short-sighted, dangerously self-absorbed and without self-awareness. We tend to imagine that the world revolves around us, and in international relations, that has cost us dearly. The things that the U.S. has done abroad but not yet repented of include toppling other countries economies, introducing unsustainable privatized models for healthcare and retirement, exporting nutritionally bankrupt dietary tendencies, and failing to equip other nations in a way that would make them our partners, instead of our financial and social dependents. I have wondered if our need for influence as a nation comes from insecurity, and I have seen our limited effort to know and love other nations leaving a negative legacy.

I pray that my students in hearing the names of these countries, whether in the news or as they read, would recall a deep sense of solidarity and love. I pray that my students would genuinely seek their welfare, and serve other countries with the humility of Jesus. I pray that they would see in our own country faces from all nations, and welcome anyone whom God has called to make the United States their home. As students study other countries, their scholarship must start with the heart. For too many years, we’ve started with facts only, and that hardness of heart has allowed us to greatly mistreat others who are created in the same image of God. When my students look to the nation, I want them to be bridge builders who can honor cultures and celebrate the successes of other countries without insecurity as to where they stand. Instead of militant nationalism, I want them to worship a God who has called many nations to himself, and in love, continues to lay himself down to do so.

How did Students pray?

Some (but not all) students prayed for Evangelism. Many prayed for the spiritual and physical needs of the people, including:

Healing from War
Protection from COVID 19 and Religious Extremism
Religious Freedom and Equal Rights under the law
For people to know the Transformative Love of Jesus, and the Peace of Christ
Celebrating Animals and Landforms
Discipleship
Protection from False Accusation or Arrest

One student faithful prayed the Lord’s prayer over his nations. Others faithfully focused on nation’s interesting animals, foods, or special attributes. While I was sometimes surprised by the direction of students’ prayers, I felt that the Holy Spirit was guiding their prayers. Once students had researched their nation and composed a prayer, we met together in regional groups to pray together.

Check out the images below to find out how students’ prayed!