5 ways I'm praying for our nation

When I was a young Christian and started regularly reading Scripture, there were several repeated themes that became clear to me.  One of those themes that I often noticed was the Lord’s desire to see His children grow in wisdom.  When we revere and respect the Lord, we position our lives to obtain wisdom from Him.  This is one of the many good things He desires for us.

 It’s also clear that the things the Lord desires to see present in our individual lives, He also desires to see flourishing in a collective sense.  He not only delights to see one of us grow in wisdom, He also delights to see when we grow wise as His family of followers.  When we as a church are willing to trust Him and love Him enough to revere His power and genuinely respect what He has taught us in His word, it’s reasonable to expect that we will likewise grow wise and mature in our walk with Him.

 And just as the Lord delights to see reverence for Him in individuals and groups, He also delights to see entire nations repent of sin and turn to Him in faith.  Throughout the course of history, we can read about seasons of time when that very thing took place.  History is filled with encouraging stories of nations turning to the Lord and great spiritual revivals taking place.  Historians point to several seasons in America’s history that were known for great spiritual awakenings, and Scripture tells us of several eras in Israel’s history when they were blessed to live through similar seasons.

 Unfortunately, the days in which Hosea ministered in Israel weren’t one of those seasons.  As we can see by paging through his book, it was a spiritually dark era in Israel’s history when the worship of Baal had come to dominate the affections of the people and their overall culture.  Hosea encouraged them to repent, but they rejected his counsel, and in short order, Israel experienced the discipline of being taken as captives by Assyria.

 But what if they had listened?  What if they repented?  What if they revered and respected the Lord who had miraculously established them as a nation to begin with?

 And what about our era of history?  Are we listening?  Do we revere and respect the Lord?  Are we more inclined to repent of our sin or rebel against Him?

It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that I pray for our nation regularly.  I would love to see our nation genuinely come to faith in Jesus.  Sometimes I even dream about following the pattern of some of the preachers in previous eras, setting up tents throughout the country during the summer months, sharing the gospel with anyone who might listen, and watching to see what happens.  Maybe someday the Lord will convince me it’s time to do that very thing.  It probably sounds crazy and old-school, but the thought comes to my mind often.

 When Hosea was praying for his nation, what did he pray?  When we’re praying for our nation, what should we be praying?

 In Hosea 10:12, there’s an interesting, five-part admonition that the Holy Spirit spoke through Hosea to the people of Israel.  In it, I see a pattern worth considering adopting in our own lives and as a model for prayer when we come before the Lord on behalf of our nation.  This was certainly something God desired to see among the people of Israel, and I believe it’s something that He would be delighted to see emulated among us today as well.

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”  (Hosea 10:12)

1.  Sow for yourselves righteousness.

 There are all kind of investments we’re making in our lives, whether we realize it or not.  On a daily basis, many of us are making spiritual, relational, physical, and financial investments.  Over time, the things we invest in our lives begin bearing fruit, much like a garden.

 The Holy Spirit, as He spoke through the prophet Hosea, encouraged the people to sow for themselves righteousness.  He desired that their aims, goals, and ambitions would be crafted with eventual righteousness in mind.  Not self-righteousness, but the kind of righteousness that is the product of genuine faith in the Lord.  They were encouraged to invest in their lives and the lives of others with the goal to see God-honoring righteousness become the net result.

 The other day, I met with the administrator of my 401(k).  She smiled when she saw me and even gave me a great big hug.  That was unexpected, but she knew, and I knew, that an investment decision I made several years ago has worked out nicely, and I think she felt inclined to celebrate with me.

 But financial investments don’t carry the same lasting benefit as spiritual investments.  With that in mind, imagine how delighted the Lord would have been to see Israel sow with an eye toward the increase of righteousness in their land.  Knowing that would have pleased the Lord, I’m praying for our nation that we will sow seeds of righteousness that bear Christ-honoring fruit.

2.  Reap steadfast love.

 Yesterday, I had the privilege of officiating for a wedding.  I have officiated for many weddings over the past 30 years, but this one was particularly special because of how well I know both the bride and groom.

 One of the primary things I make a point to emphasize in a wedding service is the steadfast love of Jesus.  We see His love illustrated in multiple ways, but for many of us, the primary way we see His love is in the sacrificial ways He met our needs at great personal cost to Himself.  He endured scorn so we could be blessed.  He endured condemnation so we could be liberated from sin’s curse.  He endured death so we could live.  And He promises to remain with us on our highest days and lowest days as we walk with Him in the midst of this fallen world.  Jesus loves us with a steadfast love.

 Israel at the time of Hosea’s writing wanted the blessings of the steadfast love of God, but they rejected having a genuine relationship with Him.  They knew about Him, but they didn’t really know Him in a personal sense.  The Lord wanted them to reap steadfast love and the fruit of sowing seeds of righteousness, but that wasn’t what they wanted for themselves.

 Do we desire to reap steadfast love?  What are we planting in our lives and in this world?  Could a righteous God truly bless it?  

 As we pray for our nation, pray that we’ll reap steadfast love that comes from the seeds of the righteousness of Christ that are planted in and through our lives.

3.  Break up your fallow ground.

 What is fallow ground?  Is that a term you’re familiar with?

 Fallow ground is soil that could be useful if it weren’t so hard.  In order for seeds to be planted in it, it needs to be tilled and broken up.  The fact that it’s compacted won’t allow seeds to penetrate the soil, germinate, and grow.

 The Lord’s admonition to Israel is certainly good farming advice, but His greater concern in this analogy is the heart and soul of the nation.  They’ve grown hard and calloused to the things of God.  Something needs to break up the fallow ground of their hearts.

 What does the Lord often use to break up fallow ground in your life?  How has He softened your heart when you’ve been resistant to Him in the past?

 In my life, the Lord almost always uses something painful, but not life-threatening, to soften my heart when it begins hardening.  He uses trials, seasons of loss, disappointments, criticism, and confrontation.  He also uses His word to break up my fallow ground.  Just the other day, He lovingly used His word to convict me of something important I really needed to hear.  I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

 Don’t harden your heart against the Lord.  Cooperate with Him as He offers to break up your fallow ground.  Pray that our nation would cooperate with Him in this effort as well.

4.  It’s time to seek the Lord.

 Looking at the urgency with which Hosea wrote to the people of Israel, you can see that the Lord was doing everything He could to convey a message of warning to the people through His prophet.  They didn’t listen as a whole, but I’d love to think that some of the people may have paid attention.

 The time to seek the Lord wasn’t tomorrow, it was today.  There was urgency to this time-sensitive challenge.  Captivity was almost upon them.  The destruction of everything they idolized was nearer than they realized.

 When I was young, I remember talking to someone I knew reasonably well.  He was a few years older and was the most combative person I had ever met when it came to spiritual things.  As far as I know, he remains so today, even though he’s in his late 50s at this point.

 I still remember him saying something to the effect of, “I’m going to live my life however I want, right up until the last moment.  Then, in that moment, maybe I’ll ask for forgiveness.”  His spiritual outlook sounded ridiculous to me at the time, but the longer I’ve lived on this planet, I’ve come to realize that he was just being honest about a perspective that, effectively, most people seem to hold.

“This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”  (Romans 13:11, NLT) 

 Israel did not believe Hosea when he told them it was time to seek the Lord.  Do we believe it’s time?  Are we willing to pray for our nation to acknowledge that the time to seek Jesus isn’t tomorrow, it’s today.

5.  The Lord desires to come and rain righteousness upon you.

 I appreciate the way the Amplified Bible presents the closing statements in Hosea 10:12.  

“For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing] Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.” (Hosea 10:12, AMP)

 It’s time to long for the Lord’s blessing.  His desire as He looks out over the people He has made is to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation upon them.  This was certainly true of Israel.  It was to them that Jesus was directly sent, but they rejected Him just as they rejected those who foretold His arrival.

 I know we all have things that we care about in this world.  I know there are a lot of concerns on our plates and ambitions in our hearts, but we truly will not taste the good life until we find it in Jesus.  

 It’s the righteousness of Christ that we long for and need.  His righteousness is imputed to our account the moment we trust in Him for life and forgiveness.  If we spend our days on this planet failing to realize that this is God’s desire for us, we’ve missed the point of life entirely.

 I desire to see our nation avoid the mistakes of our predecessors who rejected the rain of God’s righteousness through Christ.  For that reason, I’m praying that we will sow righteousness, reap steadfast love, break up our fallow ground, seek the Lord, and welcome the life and forgiveness we can only truly obtain through Jesus.

© John Stange, 2025