“Humble yourselves before the LORD and He will lift you up.”-James 4:10
If there were ever a country whose people whom really and truly love You, have ever humbled themselves, it’d be the Sudan. Granted not all the Sudanese bow their hearts and spirits low to You, LORD, but you know the ones who do and who honestly want the unity, restoration, and holistic healing of their country and more importantly its inhabitants.
I pray for the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. He is charged with the grave responsibility and mountainous task of leading a country ravaged by war, instability, and dissent and whose people grow weary of the constant and ever-present struggles of power, religion, poverty, and diseases of all kind.
Please allow Mr. al-Bashir to see all things, especially the state of his country and his people, through Your perfect perspective, loving spirit, and perfect holiness. Transform his heart to conform to Yours through Jesus Christ and allow Mr. al-Bashir to love and lead the Sudan and his people on the road You have already fashioned and paved the way to travel.
Surround Mr. al-Bashir with wise counsel, trusted friends, a loving family, and a solid support system as he continues to serve in a difficult yet necessary leadership role.
Speak to him and through him in order to love and transform the Sudan into a country won over by Your Love, ruled by Your Truth, and marked by Your Grace. Give him Your loving Father’s heart for his people..your people. Give him a heart that wants nothing but the absolute best for every single Sudanese brother and sister.
Please be with Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit the President of Southern Sudan as he too serves in a difficult capacity in a very tenuous relationship with Mr. al-Bashir and the rest of his Sudanese brethren.
The Sudan has been divided for too long along so many lines. Please work within Mr. al-Bashir and Mr. Mayardit to work through any and all differences through Your Power, Your Truth, and Your Provision that they and more importantly the entire country of Sudan would be united under Your Banner through belief and obedience to the LORD, Jesus Christ.
Be with Mr. Mayardit as he seeks to lead southern Sudan through many struggles and battles. Though the country has seen so much, the south perhaps even more so.
You know what lies ahead for the south and for Mr. Mayardit; generously give them what they need to follow Your direction for their lives, for the country, and for what You have specifically for them to be, to do, and to speak to their families and to the rest of the world.
I pray for a peaceful election in January; I pray you would protect the democratic process for all Sudanese so they may freely, safely, and willingly exercise their God-given right to choose the destiny of their country and their people.
I pray that You would combat against and ultimately triumph over any and all types of corruption especially when it comes to the voting and election process. I pray that your people’s voices would be heard and that they would choose according to Your clear and perfect guidance.
I pray that this election would bring true and lasting peace to the political and spiritual turmoil that plagues the Sudan.
I pray that Your peace which passes all understanding that will come from this election would wonderfully demonstrate who You are and how much You love the Sudanese people and their country. I pray it will draw millions of Sudanese closer to You as they witness and experience Your Power, Truth, and Love at work in and through the election process that is starting now and will be finalized in January 2010.
I thank You that even now You are already carefully and wisely orchestrating the vote on independence for Southern Sudan in 2011. You know what is best for the country for its people, and for Africa.
If it is best for the country to be unifed as the one nation, speak this clearly to the entire nation from the President down to its last Sudanese citizen and veto the vote for the independence of the South Sudan if that be Your Plan and Purpose.
If however Your Plan and Purpose lies within the South’s independence, then allow all Sudanese to be of the same mind and spirit so they will be in accord regarding the southern’s Sudan independence. If Your Desire is for southern independence, then I know that nothing will avail against Your Plan and that the vote for independence in 2011 will pass in accordance to You and not man.
I pray for revival and prayer in local churches especially during this critical time in the life of the Sudanese church and country and in the entire Kingdom. I pray that You would burden the hearts of all Sudanese believers with Your desperate desire for the healing of this country and of its people–hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies.
I pray that Sudanese pastors will help nurture and embolden their flock to seek You as they never have before, to follow You unto roads they never dreamed, to love You bravely and faithfully to a watching world and a needy country, to pray to You with humble and honest hearts, open minds, and spirits submitted and trusting to You, all the way through the excruciating times and the joyous ones.
I pray that You would fiercely guard each Sudanese believer’s time with You in prayer, in communion, in service, in study, and in worship as they seek to love You and follow You during this momentous time in the life of their country. They so desperately want to to live for You and to help their country be one that is sold out and in love with You. You gave them this burden to be a nation under the Lord God and I know You are literally and spiritually moving Heaven and earth to draw them closer to You and to heal their country in Your Righteousness and Truth.
I pray that You would burden all believers to be in battle with our Sudanese brothers and sisters through prayer and any and all other means necessary as You see fit to call us to community and to battle.
Your Word promises that “Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one can come to the Father except through Christ.” You are the Way to peace. Your Son Himself is the Prince of Peace. “Unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the (Sudanese) government will be upon His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.”-Isaiah 9:6 I pray that the lasting peace through Jesus Christ would reign throughout Sudan and that the world would see and experience the miracle of peace and healing in the Sudan and know You are God Almighty, You are the Savior, You are the One and Only True God, and that You love the Sudan like no other.
Father no one knows better than You do the horrific loss of life, freedom, unity, and peace that the Sudan has suffered due to the bloody civil way that has ravaged the country for two decades.
You have allowed a peace agreement in 2005 to help work towards the goal of true peace and unity within the Sudan. Please continue to protect this peace and provide the country, its leadership, and its people all the resources they need to work towards, maintain, and solidify peace as they move forward towards decisive elections and bold yet necessary changes in their government and in their country overall.
Please protect the next two years with Your careful diligence, Your Loving care, and Your unyielding Truth as these years hold so much promise yet potentially hold more devastation to a country whose is yearning for peace, restoration, and for a better future. Please give Your discernment, wisdom, and boldness to all those in leadership and for those who will choose the destiny of the Sudan to make wise decisions based on Your Truth, to fight the causes You deem worthy and vital, to put an end to all in-fighting, and to come together in sincere unity to work in the best interest of the people and the country short-term and long-term.
There is so much in store for the Sudan, for its people, and for their role in Your Kingdom. Allow nothing to get in their way of achieving Your desires for them, so they may be free in peace, truth, and love and they would glorify You every step of the way.
The Sudan is Your country and its people are Your heart. Continue to draw them close to You especially now for such a time as this.