A petition is a formal document containing signatures that seek action from those in authority. Petitions have little effect when signed by only a few people; however, governments and ruling bodies are often moved to action when they receive a petition with a majority of signatures.

In a general sense, praying is like signing a petition. Prayer is our great opportunity to effect change in the Devil’s world. We must remember that mankind is created with freewill and God must respect that freewill. He greatly desires to fix many of our dire situations but must wait patiently to be invited into action. As Christians we are citizens of Heaven; we should constantly be petitioning God to bless our earthly nations and to open doors for evangelism. We need to pray for our leaders, our churches and yes, even our enemies. The more citizens of Heaven petitioning, the more likely God is to make that request a reality. On examining history, we will find that nations with a strong Christian focus generally prosper. However, when Christians stop praying, God must reluctantly leave them to their own devices and the consequences of bad decisions. This is also true individually; if no one is petitioning for your family or friends, God must step back. We may be the only voice praying for our family members and those in our neighbourhood. This should certainly motivate us to invite God to work “His will” into our personal lives, our families, our neighbourhoods and nations. Christ is our representative and mediator before God. He takes His and our petitions before the Divine Throne. Yet if few Christians are praying, Christ will have few signatures. What a tragedy to send our Lord Jesus Christ to God’s Throne of Grace with a blank petition. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16