RLPB 581. Devotion: Pressing Through the 'Bitter' (Rev 10:9-10)

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 581 | Wed 23 Dec 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to “Follow by email” on the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) blog. ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds’ (2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV). 

DEVOTION: PRESSING THROUGH THE 'BITTER' (Rev 10:9-10)
- a prayer for those who intercede for Christ's persecuted Church
by Elizabeth Kendal

Without a doubt, the message of the Gospel (Good News) is sweet: 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.' (John 3:16,17 ESV). So too is the promise that this salvation will extend to the ends of the earth (e.g., Genesis 6:3, Psalm 22:25-31, Isaiah 54:1-3, Habakkuk 2:14, Acts 1:8), reaching many tribes, peoples, nations, languages, and kings (Revelation chapters 5 and 10). Yet often it is the case that we joyfully ingest this gloriously sweet Gospel, only to find it makes our stomach 'bitter': 'If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you ... Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God' (from John 15:18-16:4). Yes, the sweetness of salvation is commonly followed by the bitterness of persecution. After all, both are integral to the cosmic spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12) - a battle which Christ has already won (Colossians 2:13-15) and in which we are now 'mopping up' as Satan continues (to quote Jacques Ellul) 'to resist his demise with the energy of despair'.

As Christians, we pray for God to send more workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:37,38) and to bless all ministry and witness with effectual Holy Spirit power (1 Corinthians 4:20). We press through times of waiting as the soil (mission field) is weeded (to remove falsehoods), fed (with the blood of martyrs) and watered (with the tears of intercessors) that it might receive the Gospel seed and yield a blessed harvest (Matthew 13). In love, we press on through frustration, spurred on by faith-fuelled hope rooted in the promises of God. 'I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' (Jesus, in Matthew 16:18). 'Behold, all of [my adversaries] will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up' (the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 50:4-9). So, no matter the circumstances, we just press on and pray for our missionaries, along with all who witness for Christ: may the Lord sustain them to just keep nibbling (like the moth) as he (the Lord) keeps building! [See: 'Prayer Fuel from the Servant Songs of Isaiah' http://www.elizabethkendal.com/ (tab: Devotions).]

No matter how sweet it is for us to hear stories of amazing conversions, we must always remember that, for many new believers, life is bitter. Indeed, conversion is where their battle begins! Rescued from the doomed kingdom of darkness, they are now free to live for God in the kingdom of light, except that they live behind enemy lines where the cost of discipleship is high. Maybe they live in North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Afghanistan or Somalia where the church has been forced deep underground. Maybe they live on a spiritual front line where the battle is raging, such as in Egypt, Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq) or the Caucuses (Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan) where the world's most ancient Christian peoples are under sustained attack. Maybe they live in a village in Northern Nigeria, India's northern tribal belt, or a city anywhere in Iran where Satan is desperately fighting a losing battle to keep his disillusioned captives in! Or maybe they live in a household deeply hostile to Christianity; a household long captive to Islam, Eastern religion, or atheism and scientific materialism; a household into which our gracious Lord Jesus is reaching. Any believer who is truly engaged in the advance of God's kingdom will find themselves continuously see-sawing between the sweetness of kingdom growth (which lifts us high and into the light) and the bitterness of persecution (which takes us into the darkness and drives us low).

Every day, faithful intercessors put on their armour and willingly enter that darkness precisely so they might pray for - that is, engage in spiritual battle on behalf of - Christ's imperilled, persecuted, wounded Church. They enter that darkness voluntarily, precisely so they might see, listen to, understand, lift up and support their suffering brothers and sisters - God's precious children, Church and bride - in their time of need. Filled as it is with greed, hatred, megalomania, war, lies, repression, persecution, and terrible suffering, that darkness is not a nice place. That said, Christ is there! Indeed, the darkness is where the Redeemer, Jesus the 'true light' who brings 'grace and truth' (John 1:1-18) does his greatest work. Furthermore, Jesus invites us, even implores us, to come and join him in his great redemptive work, a work that includes caring for and supporting his embattled persecuted Church (Hebrews 13:3). The only way to endure such a task, the only way to press on through the bitter, is to keep one's eyes fixed on Jesus who has come and secured victory and trust that 'all the promises of God [will indeed] find their Yes in him' (2 Corinthians 1:20a ESV).

'Christian's Combat with Apollyon'.
From 'The Pilgrim's Progress' by John Bunyan, first published 1678.
Illustration by H. C. Selous and M. Paolo Priolo.

MY PRAYER FOR THOSE PRESSING THROUGH THE BITTER
I have prayed this for you.
I ask that you each might pray it for all our fellow intercessors.

Dear Father,

I bring before you all those faithful intercessors who willingly enter the darkness and press through the bitter precisely so they might intercede for and fight on behalf of your persecuted Church, which risks so much to live, minister, witness and shine there.

Driven by a deep love for your Church, a zeal for justice and a yearning desire to see 'your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven', they voluntarily subject themselves to the worst of news comprising all the ugliest aspects of fallen humanity. For the sake of your Church, and so they might intercede, they resist the seductive lure of 'blissful ignorance' and ingest news of repression, incarceration, abuse, assault, rape, abduction, torture, murder, massacre, genocide, abandonment and seemingly endless injustice. It is a critical and strategic ministry; but it can bring intercessors low and make their stomachs bitter.

Father, it is with this in mind that I pray for every intercessor: may the Holy Spirit be so powerfully at work within each one that love, and faith-fuelled hope rooted in the promises of God, will always prove greater than any despair or hopelessness Satan - 'the father of lies' (John 8:44) - might wish to fire into their hearts (Ephesians 6:16).

May prayer for the persecuted continue to grow as God knits together his increasingly global Church using chords of love forged in the flames of persecution, in answer to the prayer of our Lord which he prayed in the garden: that we might be one, that the world might believe (John 17:20-23).

AMEN

'But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness' (Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV)

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The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) will break for four weeks through the Australian summer and resume on Wednesday 27 January 2021 with the January Update.

Please keep watch on the news and continue in prayer for the Lord's imperilled and suffering Church. That said, know that you cannot rely on mainstream news media. Being mostly neo-Marxist in orientation, mainstream news media has no interest in the persecution of Christians. Consequently, it is imperative that we connect with and support Christian news media. Fortunately, today there is plenty to choose from, including agencies like Morning Star News which focus specifically on news of the persecuted Church. We can also connect with Christian agencies that provide aid to and advocate for the persecuted Church. Not only are they a great source of news, but they also provide avenues through which you can give. If you simply do not know whom or what to pray for, just ask the Lord to guide you. Trust and obey; the Lord has it covered.

'The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace'. (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV).

Elizabeth Kendal

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 498. Easter Reflection: A Redemptive Response to Persecution

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 498 | Wed 17 Apr 2019

RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


Easter Reflection: A Redemptive Response to Persecution 
-- by Elizabeth Kendal

In every war there is a pivotal, decisive battle which, while not ending the war, does determine its outcome. Whilst most people 'on the ground' -- soldiers and civilians -- will have no idea that the strategic dynamic has actually shifted, those in charge know exactly what has happened. Cognisant of the truth and with nothing to lose, the commanders of the losing side will unleash a response that is desperate, ferocious and punitive -- a response aimed largely at maximising their enemy's pain.

In the great cosmic drama of which we are a part, the pivotal, decisive battle was fought and won by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross; his victory evidenced by his resurrection. Despite this, the enemies of Christ resist their end and fight more violently than ever. However, no matter how challenging the Church's present reality might be, the outcome is assured, for 'all the promises of God find their "Yes" in [Christ]' (2 Corinthians 1:20). It is precisely because the promised Saviour/Redeemer fulfilled the task for which he was sent, that God's promise to Abraham -- that through his descendant 'all the families of the earth shall be blessed' (Genesis 12:1-3) -- is coming to pass.

Church in action: Nepal

For 2000 years, the Kingdom of God has been growing and spreading throughout the whole earth bringing blessing to the nations and families of the world (Matthew 13:31,32). It would be folly to think that such growth would go unchallenged. By the end of the 14th Century, the early Church that had grown and spread across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, had been reduced to a persecuted, subjugated remnant. During the past 200 years -- but especially the past 50-60 years -- the Church has grown phenomenally throughout Asia, Africa and South America. Today, God is doing a new work through which unprecedented numbers of Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Unsurprisingly, this growth is not going unchallenged either.

Now it is true that God does intervene with miracles. Indeed, amazing stories are often told of people coming to faith through dreams and visions and miraculous healings and provisions. However, it is mostly the case that God works through his servants and ambassadors, through us, his Church. We are commanded to 'go and make disciples' (Matthew 28:16-20). The lost hear the Gospel of grace and the Church grows as believers obediently 'scatter the seed' (Matthew 13:1-23). The harassed and helpless find abundant and eternal life when the Church reaches out with sacrificial love. Generally, when the Church steps out in obedience and faith, God steps in with amazing grace.

From Jerusalem to 'the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8)
An increasingly global Church. Map shows Percentage Christians

Though the decisive battle was fought and won by Christ on the Cross, the forces of evil continue to fight, resisting their end with 'the energy of despair'. Using every weapon in their arsenal, they fight with desperation and furious hatred. They fight covertly: exploiting weakness and tempting believers into sin, or even just diverting them from their divine calling. The forces of evil also fight overtly: unleashing repression, facilitating crippling discrimination and inciting violent persecution. Persecution is the devil's response to Kingdom growth, not the other way around! Which begs the question: has God provided the Church with a means to respond to persecution, a means that is redemptive, a means that might actually facilitate Kingdom growth, subverting Satan's plot and turning it on its head?

The first thing the Church must do is remember that Jesus Christ fought and won the pivotal, decisive battle on the Cross. Consequently, the outcome is already certain. The Church must realise that precisely because persecution is a response to Kingdom growth, it is not a signal that it is time to disengage or retreat. On the contrary, persecution signals the exact opposite! Persecution signals that it is time to get involved, time to step out in obedience and faith to 'sow seed' and support those sowers doing dangerous work on the front-line and behind enemy lines. To support the persecuted Church is to support God's mission in hostile territory. Thanks to the unprecedented openness and connectedness of today's world, today's Church can know of persecution and respond rapidly for the saving of many lives.

Now it is true that God does intervene with miracles, and amazing stories emerge daily of miraculous deliverance, provision and intervention. Generally, however, as it is with salvation, so it is with survival -- God mostly chooses to work through us, his Church. The persecuted Church in the Middle East or Africa or Asia, or anywhere you wish to name, will survive and grow as we speak out (Proverbs 31:8,9), as we give generously (James 2:15,16) and as we commit to faithful, intercessory prayer (Ephesians 6:12-18) [see: www.ElizabethKendal.com/Action ].

Gethsemane: a still from Mel Gibson's
'The Passion of the Christ'

Furthermore, as we love and support our brothers and sisters across ethnic and denominational lines, Christ's High Priestly prayer in the garden is answered: 'Father ... I pray ... that they may all be one just as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me ... that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me' (from John 17:20-26 ESV). We might think we can't make a difference; but that is a lie of the devil. Practical sacrificial love for the persecuted Church is actually one of the most subversive, redemptive, sanctifying and missional things we can do.

EASTER PRAYER

Merciful Father, we pray for churches that are essentially dead because they have failed to feed on your Word, failed to exercise their faith and failed to pass on the truth to the next generation. May the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead revive your Church.

Compassionate Father, we pray for churches that have retreated behind locked doors and locked lips for fear of persecution. May the Holy Spirit who gives wisdom and guidance (Matthew 10:16-20) give your Church power and courage to act (Acts 2).

Gracious Father, we pray for churches that have neglected or even resisted your command to love the Body of Christ (Galatians 6:2), even when it is poor, needy and despised, bleeding, imprisoned and struggling to survive. May the love of Jesus Christ be shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5) ... that we might be one, that the world might believe (John 17:20-26).

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

 See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 402. Egypt and Syria: Massacre and the Threat of Massacre

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 402 | Wed 12 Apr 2017

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


EGYPT AND SYRIA: MASSACRE AND THE THREAT OF MASSACRE
-- plus Easter Prayer
by Elizabeth Kendal

This RLPB will not be the 'short Easter devotion' promised last week. Rather we must press on with intercession in view of the events of the past week, which indicate that the Christian crisis in the Middle East is moving to a whole new level.

EGYPT: PALM SUNDAY DOUBLE MASSACRE


Soon after 9am on Sunday 9 April, as the believers were enjoying Palm Sunday celebrations, a suicide bomber entered Mar Girgis (St George) Church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta. Launching himself towards the front of the church, he detonated himself beside the altar. At least 27 worshippers were killed and a further 78 others wounded. A few hours later in coastal Alexandria, a suicide bomber approached St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. Unable to gain entrance to the church, he blew himself up outside, killing 18 civilians and four police officers. The head of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, had just finishing addressing the congregation, but was not hurt. By Sunday afternoon, Islamic State in Egypt had claimed both attacks.

That evening, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi announced on television that he would impose a three-month nationwide state of emergency, establish a Supreme Anti-Terrorism Council and fast-track amendments to the criminal code to expedite the trials of terror suspects. On 10 April the Egyptian parliament approved the measures.

The situation for Copts in Egypt is extremely complex. Churches are a soft target for Islamic militants aiming to trigger sectarian conflict to destabilise or extract concessions from the state. Meanwhile, many Muslims in authority view Christians as pawns, expendable in the pursuit of Western military aid and support. In other words, both the jihadists and the authorities stand to gain from bombing the churches. Furthermore, after receiving intelligence on 10 April that an IS attack was imminent, Israel closed the border crossing between Taba in Egypt's South Sinai Province and Eilat in southern Israel, on the north shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. As Islamic State's Caliphate collapses in Mosul, many of IS's Egyptian fighters are returning home. Islamic State in Egypt is growing and, with Muslim Brotherhood support, is escalating its campaign. The Christian crisis in Egypt is moving to a whole new level.

Of course this violence leaves many nominal or cultural Muslims shaken, repulsed and disillusioned -- indeed many will reject Islam because of it. An evangelical pastor in the Middle East told Jennifer Breedon (an analyst with the Clarion Project): 'Today ISIS is the evangelizer… I am merely a baptizer of their converts to Christianity.' While the pastor's comment is understandable, it would be more accurate to say that ISIS is the hammer smashing Islam's illusions, while in demonstrating divine amazing grace, Egypt's Christians are the evangelisers.

PLEASE PRAY FOR Egypt's grieving, traumatised and anxious Christians. May God comfort them, supply all their needs and redeem all their suffering. May the Lord pour his Holy Spirit on them that they will continue to demonstrate divine amazing grace (see Luke 6:27-31), evangelising Egypt (and the world) in the process.


SYRIA: US REVERSAL RAISES THREAT OF MASSACRE 

On the night of Thursday 6 April, US President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on Syria's Shayrat Airbase. Located about 40 km east of the city of Homs, Shayrat is the principal base from where Syrian and Russian forces have been fighting Islamic State in eastern Syria. While the impact of the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles appears to have been minimal, the action -- which was surely illegal -- further complicates an already complicated situation. The missile strike was ordered on the basis of 'intelligence' (primarily heart-rending images of children in the village of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib) provided by Turkey and Saudi-backed, al-Qaeda-led 'rebels'. [Idlib fell to a coalition of Turkey and Saudi-backed al-Qaeda-led transnational jihadists in March 2015 (see RLPBs 303, 305 and 307 of April 2015)].

Without any independent investigation, the West deemed Assad guilty of launching a chemical attack on civilians, despite the obvious fact that the Syrian government -- which was making great gains militarily and politically -- had nothing to gain from such a provocation and everything to lose. On the contrary, the mostly foreign 'rebels' -- who care little about Syria or Syrians and are on the back foot militarily -- had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Meanwhile, according to Homs governor Talal al-Barazi, 14 Syrians were killed in the US attack on the Shayrat airbase, nine of whom were civilians, including women and children.

It should not be forgotten that NATO-member Turkey and US-allied Saudi Arabia and Qatar started the Syrian war when they chose to exploit 'Arab Spring' unrest in Syria to pursue regime change in Damascus. The Turkey-Arab Sunni Axis' aim is to restore Sunni hegemony (as was the situation before WW1) and install a Sunni regime in Damascus more amenable to Sunni interests. If the US does not step back, the consequences for Christians will be disastrous.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that Hezbollah is known to be stockpiling weapons in southern Syria in preparation for a new war with Israel which may well be launched from Syrian territory. In the early hours of 17 March Israeli air-force jets entered Syrian airspace and fired rockets into a convoy understood to be transporting Iranian weapons to Hezbollah's T-4 military base at Palmyra, drawing fire from Syrian air defences in the process. This evolving situation is causing a dilemma for Russia, which is allied to Iran and Syria, and to Israel with whom it has pledged co-operation. For Israel the security situation is becoming critical, as the threat posed by Iran-Hezbollah is greater than the threat posed by Islamic State.

The fact we cannot ignore is that if the Syrian government falls jihadists will fill the vacuum, triggering a new exodus and genocide. Western policy is spinning so fast it is dizzying. The only solution I (Elizabeth Kendal) could propose would be an alliance comprising Russia, the Alawites, Israel and the West, committed to keeping the bulk of Mesopotamia (i.e. 'the Fertile Crescent of minorities') free from Islamic rule and free from Turkish, Arab or Persian domination. 'With God, all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26; see also, Luke 1:37).

PLEASE PRAY FOR Syria's grieving, traumatised and deeply anxious Christians; may God comfort them, supply all their needs and redeem all their suffering. May the Lord intervene in Syria in the interests of the Church, in the interests of Syria.


EASTER PRAYER

Dear God our Father,
We lift before you the imperilled Christians of the Middle East, along with persecuted and suffering believers everywhere. 
They suffer betrayal, injustice, violence and killing -- just as you did.
They struggle with fear, panic, terror and confusion -- just as did your disciples.
Though we join in lamentations we find hope in the Cross which reminds us that no matter how deep the darkness, you are there, alive and active, subverting evil and redeeming it for good in fulfilment of promise.
Father, 
Add our tears to the tears of the bereaved and oppressed, and to the blood of the martyrs: that suffering might be redeemed, that hearts might be softened and the 'soil' prepared to receive the Gospel of grace. 
Pour out your Spirit afresh upon the Church, that we might with boldness step out in faith and with grace and great generosity of spirit to be cross-bearers (Luke 14:27) and burden-sharers (Galatians 6:2) that the world might believe (John 17:20-23).
Lord have mercy on us for the sake of the Lamb, Jesus Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords.
AMEN

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 290. Towards 2015: the world has changed.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 290 | Wed 10 Dec 2014

TOWARDS 2015: THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
-- and the Church must rise to meet the challenge.
By Elizabeth Kendal

* DISPLACED & TRAUMATISED
As we head into 2015, hundreds of thousands of Christians are struggling to survive as refugees or IDPs (internally displaced peoples).

source

Driven from their historic homeland in Upper Mesopotamia, hundreds of thousands of Assyrian Christians are struggling in camps and shared accommodation across Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. Having lost everything, they are dependent on Christian aid groups and local churches for their day-to-day survival. Around 150,000 Assyrian IDPs are in Iraqi Kurdistan (and some in Baghdad) being sheltered in churches, schools, shopping centres and by local believers. Arriving with only the clothes on their backs, they too are dependent on the generosity of others. In Sudan, many thousands of Christians have been driven from their homes in South Kordofan state by the genocidal regime in Khartoum. Tens of thousands have fled to camps in South Sudan. Tens of thousands seek shelter in caves and trenches in the Nuba Mountains awaiting Khartoum's threatened Final Solution. The number of Christians displaced by Islamic militants in Nigeria, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo is quite enormous. Of course their needs are beyond the material, for these refugees and IDPs have been traumatised by war, with most having lost loved ones. Understandably, their faith is sorely tested.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to living simply and supporting a Christian aid group so our brothers and sisters might simply live? As we head into 2015, will we commit to pray for the displaced?

* CAPTIVE & ENSLAVED
As we head into 2015, people are slowly becoming aware that slavery is alive and flourishing in the 21st Century and growing at an alarming rate. The victims are commonly from poor and marginalised communities; many are persecuted Christians. Today thousands of Christians exist as bonded labourers in Pakistan and as trapped labourers in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

source

Today thousands of Christian suffer as sex slaves to Islamic jihadists in Northern Nigeria, Cameroon and 'Islamic State', and as chattel slaves of Sudanese and Gulf Arabs. Christians fleeing persecution in the Horn of Africa are snatched from camps and trafficked into the Sinai where they are tortured to extort ransom payments. Committed Christian abolitionists and anti-trafficking activists are getting busier, rescuing captives and redeeming slaves with full knowledge that nothing will change until the culture changes through spiritual transformation.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to supporting the spread of the Gospel, for the witness of the Word and the Spirit? As we head into 2015, will we commit to pray for the captives?

'IN RETURNING and in rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' Isaiah 30:15 has long been a favourite verse for many. It is easy to see why -- it is a beautiful verse, almost poetic. Yes, it rolls off the tongue so easily. Yet one look at the context and the verse becomes much more challenging. God spoke these words to his people at a time when they faced invasion, conquest, destruction, displacement, massacre and captivity. As their powerful enemy bore down on them, the Lord's people looked everywhere for help -- except to the Lord. Meanwhile, they did everything in their strength (busy, busy, busy) -- except pray (Isaiah 22:8b-11). As the storm clouds loomed the Lord God said: 'In returning and in rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But they were 'unwilling', preferring to do things their way (v16). So the Lord waited (refrained from acting), for the promised salvation would only come by grace through faith, which is the Lord's paradigm. No wonder the passage concludes: 'blessed are those who wait for [trust in] him' (v18). [Isaiah 30:15-18]

As we head into 2015, will we commit to serious faith-building so we might reach out in faith to seek grace from the Lord?

'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord ...' (from Exodus 14:10-14).

* THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
We have entered an age where mission and persecution must be seen as inseparable; where the needs of the Body are so enormous they simply must be shared globally; where faith-building is imperative for the purpose of survival; and where worship must have room for indignation, lament and the very serious business of intercessory prayer.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to this?


DEAR FATHER WE PRAY
that we might have an insight into your heart, which grieves over the suffering Body of Christ. May the Holy Spirit work in us, that we might weep with those who weep while serving the persecuted as comforters and advocates. May the Holy Spirit change us that we will give of our time, our funds, our energy and our possessions willingly for the benefit of believers in desperate need (Acts 2:42-47). Please Lord, fan our flickering faith into flame, that we might truly believe that Jesus Christ is 'able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us' (Ephesians 3:20).  May 2015 be a year of awakening, transformation and sanctification, for the sake of those who suffer for Christ, and for the glory of God. 
Amen.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS 
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TOWARDS 2015

Heading into 2015, we need to accept that the world has changed. The number of Christians displaced by war, threatened by terrorism, destroyed by violent persecution, crushed by crippling discrimination and even held captive as slaves is growing at an alarming rate. We have entered an age where mission and persecution must be seen as inseparable; where the needs of the Body are so enormous they simply must be shared globally; where faith-building is imperative for the purpose of survival; and where worship must have room for indignation, lament and the very serious business of intercessory prayer. As we head into 2015, will we commit to this? Pray for the persecuted, and for the Lord to revive his Church. For salvation comes from the Lord, by grace through faith.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today 
(Deror Books, Dec 2012).

RLPB 241. Praying for the persecuted church with the hope and joy of Christmas

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

A Prayer for International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church

By Elizabeth Kendal

TO OPEN: an affirmation.
(Psalm 121:1,2 ESV)

Leader: I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?

Congregation: My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Leader: Let's pray . . .


Dear Father,

We know that Christ is building his Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). We see the evidence of this all around us, as people are coming to Christ from every tribe, language, people and nation. We praise you for your redeeming love, transforming power and gracious mercy.

Please dear Father, help us fulfil the will for Christ and become ONE Church in spirit (John 17:20-23). Transform our selfish hearts into hearts that love one another as you love us. May the Holy Spirit do a work in us so that we might see as you see and love as you love, even though it may hurt and be costly. Inject into our hearts a deep compassion for our brothers and sisters -- a love that will compel us to intercede for them and bear their burdens (Galatians 6:2).

Dear Father, we are faced with so many horrific situations that are completely beyond our ability to address: whole regions and peoples that are oppressed, nations tearing apart in violent conflict, genocides, mass cruelty, gross injustice . . . We confess that many of these terrible situations persist because we have been unfaithful in witness, righteousness and prayer; because we have been uninterested in suffering and injustice; because we have sat back, washed our hands and let the devil get a foothold. We repent of our sin, ask for your forgiveness and seek your mercy for those who suffer.

We pray for our brothers and sisters who suffer under Islamic oppression and jihad; for those who live under Communist rule and cruel totalitarian regimes; for those suffering persecution on account of militant religious nationalism; and for those who suffer humiliation, ridicule, scorn and crippling discrimination simply because they love and follow Jesus Christ and will not compromise for the sake of personal security or financial gain.

We pray for those who are in prison and in concentration or forced labour camps on account of the name of Jesus (John 15:21). We pray for those who go hungry, for those who grieve and for those who have been cast from their homes and lands simply on account of the name of Jesus.

We pray for those who are displaced and imperilled on account of war. We beseech you Father: rise up in defence of your betrayed, abandoned and threatened people (Isaiah 59:15b-19), so that their enemies might 'be scattered' (Psalm 68:1) and 'put to shame and confusion' and 'turned back and brought to dishonour' (Psalm 70:2). Provide for your suffering people O LORD, just as you did when you provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16) and water from the rock (Exodus 17); just as you did when you instructed the ravens to feed Elijah and resupplied the widow each night (1 Kings 17). We know you rule heaven and earth. We know that with you, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).

Father we ask that your Holy Spirit, who is present within each believer, will comfort, encourage, revive and counsel them. May they be assured in the depths of their hearts that nothing can separate them from your love (Romans 8:35-39). Draw them into prayer and then answer their prayers that their faith might be fanned into flame. May the devil have no victory over them.

Father we pray for those who persecute the Church. We know that they do this because they do not know you (John 16:3). May the Holy Spirit fill us with love them so that we might pray for them and be courageous in our witness to them. We pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, persecutors will come under conviction of sin. We pray for many of those miracles of transformation whereby persecutors are turned into preachers (Galatians 1:23). We pray that you will establish leaders in the nations who will be committed to justice, righteousness, peace and liberty so that Christians may live in peace and security and so the gospel may be preached freely to lost and dying souls (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Finally we ask that your Holy Spirit will help us to prevail in prayer: not giving up, not being distracted, not fooled by the tricks of the devil, but compelled by love into prevailing prayer with hearts full of assurance and faith (Hebrews 10:19-23). For we know that we are ultimately wrestling not with men/women, or governments, or systems -- but we are fighting against principalities and powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18). We know we cannot do this on our own -- and so we come before you now to humbly seek your direction and your intervention. We do not ask these things because we deserve your help, but because you are merciful (Daniel 9:18b).

So now O LORD our God, intervene on behalf of your besieged, suffering and threatened people -- your persecuted Church -- that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD (Isaiah 37:20).

AMEN