Praying for Your Nation By Kenneth E. Hagin

Praying for Your Nation

By Kenneth E. Hagin 

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

— 1 Timothy 2:1-4

After the final service of our Campmeeting ’79, some of the speakers and others went up to Kenneth Hagin Jr.’s hotel suite for sandwiches.

As we were talking about the things of God, the Spirit of God kept moving on me. (Actually, only three times in my life has the Spirit moved on me in such a measure.)

I said to the others, “Let’s pray. The Spirit of God keeps moving on me.”

We prayed. By the Spirit, I ministered to each one present. Then I was caught up in the spirit of prayer. For lack of a better term, I was “lost in the spirit.” I was not unconscious — but I was more conscious of spiritual things. Spiritual things were more real than the natural.

I sat with my eyes shut, praying in tongues, for what proved to be several hours. (It was just after midnight when we started praying. When it was all over and I opened my eyes, it was after 4 a.m. Yet it seemed as if it had been only 10 or 15 minutes.)

The Lord spoke to me. Among other things, He gave me instructions concerning the Prayer and Healing School we are now holding every weekday on the RHEMA Bible Training Center campus.

And I saw something. I saw three things coming up out of the Atlantic Ocean. They looked like three giant black frogs as large as whales. One was in midair. The other two had just stuck their heads up out of the water from the east.

I had seen something similar nine years before.

Jesus said to me, “You saw the same thing in 1970. I told you then exactly what they were, but you didn’t do what you should have done about it. I told you back in 1970 to pray for the leaders of the nation. What happened [Watergate and so forth] isn’t all the fault of the man who was then President. I am going to hold the Christians of this nation responsible. You are the ones who allowed what happened to your nation. If you had prayed, it never would have happened. I showed you what was about to happen. Go back and check... .”

(Later, I went back and checked what the Lord had said to me in 1970 from tapes and manuscripts of a special meeting we held in October 1970.)

Jesus said to me, “Back in 1970, you saw three similar dark objects come up out of the Atlantic and leapfrog all the way across the land. If you and the Christians had done what you should have done, none of those things would have happened to your nation. You would not have had the riots. You would not have had the political disturbances. Your President would not have made the mistakes he made. In fact, I am holding the Church responsible for his mistakes.”

I began to weep and cry, “Oh, God!”

“Yes,” He said, “I am holding you and the Church responsible.”

Then He said, “When you tell that to some of the Christians, they will laugh. But when they stand before my judgment seat and they receive the condemnation rather than the man who was then President, they won’t laugh.

“If Christians had done what I told them to do in the Bible — if they had prayed for the leaders of their nation — they would have kept the evil spirits from operating.”

Then He continued, “Similar things — not the same things — but similar things are about to happen again. If you do not pray, they will happen. I am not going to hold the President responsible for the nation; I am going to hold the Christians of the nation responsible.”

Now let me explain something — you have to know how to interpret these things. I saw those three creatures come up out of the Atlantic Ocean. But that doesn’t mean they rise out of the ocean. From Genesis to Revelation, “seas” and “waters” refer to a multitude of people. Out of the multitude of people, these things will rise up. Sinners are dominated by the devil; they’re in his kingdom.

Jesus said, “There will arise, unless the Christians pray — not for the same purpose that the other riots came — but there will be riots, tumults, and disturbances all across the nation.

“Second, something is about to happen to the President that should not happen — and will not happen if you will pray.

“Third, something is about to happen again that will bring further trouble in the economic scene, the financial structure.

“But you can stop all three. You can stop the upheaval in the social structure. You can stop the upheaval and the activity of the devil in the political scene. You can stop the devil from disrupting the financial scene of your nation.

“You can change all three through intercessory prayer. That’s one of the main purposes for the classes you are going to start in the fall.”

First Things First

God gave us specific instructions to put first things first.

“Yes, but,” people have said to me, “I’ll tell you, as long as the Democrats are in, it’s not going to go.” Others have said, “As long as the Republicans are in. . . .”

If you are party minded first, you will never amount to much of a Christian. Christians are to put first things first.

The Word says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all . . . ” (1 Tim. 2:1).

First! Before you pray for your children, before you pray for me, before I pray for you, “. . . first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority . . . ” (1 Tim. 2:1,2).

So we would know who the “all men” are, it says, “For kings, and for all that are in authority . . . ” (v. 2).

First of all, we are to pray for our leaders — for all those who are in authority in national government, state or provincial government, and on down to city government.

Why? Go on reading. . . .

“. . . that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (v. 2). That “we” as Christians may lead a quiet and peaceable life. God is interested in us.

All the kings Paul was instructing them to pray for were not born again.

Will God bless leaders even though they are not saved?

Certainly. The Spirit of God would not tell us to pray for something we could not have. That would be stupid.

Why will he bless them? For one thing, He is interested in us.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour” (1 Tim. 2:3). It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior that we pray first of all for all who are in authority. It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior that we lead a quiet and peaceable life.

First Timothy 2:4 says, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” When there is war, when there is upheaval, when there is turmoil, it is difficult to spread the Gospel. But when there is peace, when there is tranquility, then we are free to go and spread the Gospel.

No wonder the devil wants to attack the United States, for instance. You can go around the world and you will find that 90 percent of all missionary work is done from America. If the devil could stop us, he could stop the flow of God’s blessings.

But, blessed be God, he cannot do it!

How are we told to pray for those in authority? First Timothy 2:1 tells us: “. . . supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. . . .”

We have examples in Scripture of those who successfully prayed for cities and nations.

One such Bible example is Abraham who prayed for two cities — Sodom and Gomorrah. Read that account in Genesis chapter 18.

The Lord said, “. . . Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do” (v. 17).

He would not destroy those wicked cities without informing His blood-covenant friend. Abraham was standing on his blood-covenant rights when he said to the Lord, “. . . Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:23-25).

The Lord said, “. . . If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for THEIR sakes” (Gen. 18:26).

Remember what First Timothy 2:2 says: “. . . that WE may lead a quiet and peaceable life. . . .”

God said He would spare the whole city for the sake of 50 righteous.

Abraham kept going down in number until he said to the Lord, “. . . Peradventure ten

shall be found there . . . ” (Gen. 18:32).

And the Lord said, “. . . I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” (v. 32).

Consider the terrible sins that existed in Sodom — yet God said He would spare the whole place for ten’s sake.

You know, this old world would already have been destroyed if it were not for us Christians. Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth. . .” (Matt. 5:13).

I am old enough to remember before we had electric refrigerators. My grandfather killed hogs. He would put salt on the meat to preserve it.

This world is bad enough — but if it were not for us Christians, it would certainly be rotten.

God told Abraham He would spare the cities for the sake of ten righteous. There are more than ten righteous persons in America today.

Some say, “We’re going to pot.”

No, we’re not!

Don’t listen to such talk as that.

I believe there are people in America today who will take their place in prayer just as Abraham did.

Abraham didn’t sit around and talk about how wicked they were and how they were all going to hell. He interceded on their behalf!

If we will take our place, we can change things.

We have a better covenant based on better promises!

I was in the home of a minister of the Gospel whose 4-year-old son misbehaved so much that he embarrassed me and even embarrassed my son, who was also 4. Ken said to me the minute we got into the car, “That boy is awful, isn’t he?”

He talked terribly to his father. When his father picked him up in his arms, petting him a little to quiet him down, the boy slapped his cheeks and said, “You old liar. What you’re telling is not so. You’re a liar.”

This pastor — Full Gospel, Spirit-filled — said to me, “Well, you know, the Bible says that in the last days, children will be disobedient to parents.”

“Yes,” I said, “the Bible also says that the love of many shall wax cold, but that doesn’t mean my love has to wax cold. And that doesn’t mean my children are going to be disobedient to their parents.”

You can sit around and say, “Well, the Bible says that evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, deceived and being deceived. This whole thing is going down. The love of many shall wax cold,” and if you just dwell on that side, you will grow cold. The devil will take you over and all your children.

But you don’t have to think along that line.

Wake up and realize who you are in Christ. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church! Jesus is the Head of the Church — not Satan. Jesus is bigger than the devil. In fact, He has already defeated him. He arose victorious over him — and His victory is my victory.

Think in line with God’s Word and realize that no matter what the situation, we can do something about it.

EZEKIEL 22:30,31

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads. . . .

This is God talking. Abraham interceded for two cities. Here God is talking about an entire nation. If He could have found one man who would have stood in the gap, who would have interceded on behalf of the nation, judgment would not have come.

“Well, “ someone might ask, “if God really wanted to spare the land, why didn’t He just go ahead and do it anyhow?” Isn’t He God? If that’s His will, why doesn’t He go ahead and do it?”

Go back to First Timothy 2:4. There it says that God wills that all men come unto the knowledge of the truth. Why doesn’t He just go ahead and make them all be born again? If He can do anything He wants to do, why doesn’t He do it? Why does He wait for somebody to intercede?

We discussed this in detail in Chapter 1. Satan became the god of this world until Adam’s lease runs out. He is not my god — I am not of this world. But he is responsible for the wars between nations, the murders, the violence that is done in the world.

God will not transgress His own Word. He gave the lease to Adam. Adam gave it to the devil. It is running out. But until that time, God can only intervene as Christians seek His face and ask Him to move.

Satan’s authority over matters on the earth can only be overcome as Christians pray in behalf of their country. God is longing today for someone who will make up the hedge and stand in the gap before Him for the land.

Prayer can be offered in your known tongue. It can also be offered in other tongues as the Holy Spirit helps you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and continue to pray.

Here is where some people miss it. They don’t hear everything you teach, and they grab some little something and run off with it. There are some things you can pray the prayer of faith on — and you pray one prayer and that’s the end of it. You don’t have to pray anymore; you just thank God for the answer. You can do that for salvation, for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, for healing — for anything God promised right now. But there are other things you cannot pray the prayer of faith on. One of them is this matter of praying for our nation. You must continue in prayer for the leaders of your nation.

Excerpt from The Art of Prayer by Kenneth E. Hagin, Faith Library Publications