"And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations" (Isaiah 25:7).
Praying for the nation is an assignment that the Lord has given to all believers. The church is mandated to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6). And whereas the physical Jerusalem in Palestine is the literal reference here, we cannot ignore the implied 'Jerusalem', namely your locality, your city or your country as the case may be.
Praying for your 'Jerusalem' is important because your personal peace and prosperity is directly tied to the peace and prosperity of your Jerusalem. That was why the Lord spoke through Jeremiah, urging the Jews to pray for the peace of the land of their captivity because it is in the peace of that land that they also shall have peace (Jeremiah 29:7).
Generally speaking, most nations of the world are in critical moments today and so, this injunction to pray for our respective nations must be taken as a matter of urgent priority. We must pay our God assigned dues in this regard, both as individuals and as a church. But in praying for the city, state or nation, we must do so with revelation.
We must wait on God to receive direction that we might not have prayed in vain.
Recently, we were in such a prayer session for our beloved country when the Spirit of God gave us the Scripture verse quoted above to be used to direct the prayers. The first thing I observed is that it is possible for evil people to cast a covering "over all the people" and,that from the kingdom of darkness, a vail could be spread on an entire nation and indeed the whole nations of the world. That discovery is frightening because it does not seem to align with the well proven dictum that you can fool some people some time but you can't fool all the people all the time.
The obvious inference that could be drawn from today's Scripture is that you can cover or fool all the people all the time - at least until the people cry out to God for deliverance as it was with the Hebrews when they got tired of four hundred years of Egyptian oppression, or until the power of evil attains its moment of divine expiration as it happened in the case of Sodom when the Lord destroyed the city with all its evil.
In our country today, particularly as we approach the general elections, we must pray to remove every satanic covering and vail beclouding the eyes of understanding of our people. I can confirm to you that the political class has been casting spells, attempting to charm the whole nation in their quest for political power. I can confirm to you that marabouts and voodoo priests have been brought into the nation in their numbers at different times to advance the cause of certain candidates and to pursue agendas that are wholly unholy.
Sadly in all that is happening, the church has also been hoodwinked. Yet, it is on "this mountain" that the Lord has purposed to 'destroy' "the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations". The church must arise and pray dispassionately, yet fervently for the soul of this nation. I tell you, this generation of Christians will answer to God what they have done with the precious destiny of this nation. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. May the Lord in His mercy grant us understanding.
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