Praying for America: Is It Worth It?

I’m guessing the title of this post might have raised a few eyebrows, especially from the most patriotic among us. How could you even ask that question?! some might be thinking. Of course it’s worth it!

Yes, I agree that it is. But sometimes it’s really, really hard. 

Perhaps I should start at the beginning…

There are those that hold to the idea that America was a “Christian nation” at the time of its founding and has since slipped away to the point of its no longer being one. (In case you were wondering, I am not one of those people, but that’s a topic for another post…) Those who profess this view are usually the most outspoken about praying for America, with the goal of returning the country to its [supposed] former Christian glory. Citing 2 Chronicles 7:14, they often seem to promote prayer as a bargaining chip with which they can secure God’s favor and healing for the nation.

This type of talk has always left me with an unsettled feeling (and not just because of the questionable application of the 2 Chronicles verse), for it tends to present the assumption that if only we would increase our morality we would deserve God’s blessings and He would necessarily pour them out on us. Of course, to be fair, the element of genuine repentance is not always absent from such calls to prayer, but even it is often portrayed as a means to the end of God’s favor.

After some time of observing this perspective exhibited, I began to think about the justice of God. Knowing that America is not God’s chosen nation (again, a topic for another post), I began to feel it rather arrogant of any Americans to assume that we were due any special consideration from God at all. When you look at all the ways America has spat in the face of God and has lived directly counter to His Law, not just in the past few decades but over the whole course of our history as a nation—and even through our colonial history, it becomes a wonder that God has been as merciful and gracious to us as He has.

Also knowing that there is no Scriptural guarantee that America will continue to exist for any particular length of time and that there is a Scriptural guarantee that things will only continue to get more wicked and lawless as time goes on, it should not be alarming or surprising to us that immorality is as rampant as it is.

It was as I began to ponder these things that I began to ask the question, “Is it worth it?” We know things are supposed to get worse before Christ returns, so what good will praying for things to get better do? And how can we be so daring as to ask the almighty, righteous God of all space and time to continue to be merciful to a nation so broken and belligerent as ours?

But then I heard J.D. Greear preach at the Southern Baptist Convention in 2015. His sermon was about judging and how misconstrued that term often is in our society. In describing the true meaning of the word, he gave a litmus test to show whether or not we are truly judging someone. One of the tests was whether or not we brush a person (or nation of people) off as hopeless, as beyond saving. If we do this, then we are judging them. And judging people is not our job; it’s God’s.

Ouch. In hearing this message, the Holy Spirit convicted me that in this way I was guilty of judging my fellow human beings in many instances. Even in my approach to thinking about America, I was guilty of this. As I looked at all the evil in our nation, cynicism rose up, and I began to think it not even worth asking God to spare us one more time.

But who am I to decide when God’s judgment will or should be poured out?

Yes, things are going to get worse and worse, but that does not mean that God will not relent for a time. The Bible is full of examples of God’s postponing or relenting from judgment because someone cried out to Him on behalf of the people. And that is totally His prerogative. Who am I to try to dictate God’s timeline?

And who am I to identify someone as beyond saving? I, whom God would have been totally justified in condemning, have been forgiven and pardoned instead. So if God saw fit to have mercy on me, then why would He not be willing to have mercy on this nation?

As I came to recognize, assigning condemnation to others not only is sinning against them but also is usurping the authority of Almighty God and is failing to ascribe to Him the characteristics with which He describes Himself: “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6, ESV).

Heaven forbid that we presume such an assault on the character of God. After all, it is this very character that is the basis from which we can cry out to God for mercy in the first place. He is merciful because of Who He is, not because of who we are or what we have done.

So to answer the question of the title: yes. Praying for America is most definitely worth it because we know that our God is merciful even as He is just. And while we cannot be sure of what His answer will be, we can—and should—still plead wholeheartedly for our nation, asking that God will awaken hearts and minds to the Truth of His Gospel.

Let us pray, then, for the Church in America, that God will drive us out of our complacency and apathy to fulfill our calling of making disciples. Let us pray that God will be merciful to us and to those who are His enemies as we once were. Let us pray that His kindness will draw them to repentance (Romans 2:4) and that they will experience the abundant joy that is ours in Christ Jesus. Let us pray for God to do a mighty work in this country, not only for our good, but ultimately for His glory.