May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.
Psalms 67:1-2, 4-7 NLT
This psalm is a prayer for the whole world. It begins with a request for God’s mercy and smile to shine on His people. It then moves to praying for the whole world to know the ways of the Lord. God governs the whole world with justice, though humans seek to twist goodness for their own selfish gain. The heart of the psalmist is for the whole world to praise the Lord (vv.3, 4, 5).
It is not wrong to pray for yourself; the psalms are filled with those prayers. But this psalm invites us to larger prayers for the whole world. In fact, reading the psalms is one way to pray the Word and grow in your prayer life. As you add to your prayer time, you will find yourself living each day in a greater awareness of God’s presence.You will also find yourself being more productive because of God’s power in you –His peace gives you power!
What are some prayers for the world you can lift up to God today? How can you grow and strengthen your prayer time?
