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

132. BURMA: Interests, Smokescreens & Ethnic Cleansing

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 132 | Wed 02 Nov 2011 BURMA (Myanmar): INTERESTS, SMOKESCREENS & ETHNIC CLEANSING By Elizabeth Kendal Burma has been subject to Western political and economic sanctions for decades because of its repression of democracy. However, since the mid-1990s ascendant China has been taking Burma into its embrace, supplying it with loans and commodities, trading freely and building infrastructure -- but not out of benevolence. China is pursuing its own interests, in particular gaining access to Burmese ports on the Bay of Bengal, where there has long been a power vacuum. Motivated by this threat, the US is now pursuing engagement with Burma. Consequently Burma's geo-strategic value is rising in line with China's economic and military ascendancy, which means Burma (like Indonesia -- RLPB 119) can now play geo-politics to its own advantage. To this end, the regime is welcoming the US overtures as they offer a way to counter the anti-China sentiment rising inside Burma. The West is highly excited over Burma's recent reforms: the release of some 200 political prisoners (despite over 1000 still behind bars); talks held with Aung San Suu Kyi; improvements in press freedom and the introduction of debate into its parliament. Burmese generally are highly sceptical of the reforms which need to be seen in the light of Burmese domestic realities. Domestically the regime wants to lessen its dependence on China. It also wants to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014 (which will be decided this month). The only reform that has really captured the imagination of the Burmese is the regime's 30 September decision to suspend until 2015 the immensely controversial Myitsone Dam Project in Kachin State. A joint project between the previous Burmese junta and the China Power Investment Corporation, the Myitsone Dam project was not only opposed by the Kachin -- a Christian people whose lands would have been decimated -- but by many Burmese. Not only would 90 percent of the output and 70 percent of the profits go to China, but the impact on the Irrawaddy River -- Burma's life source -- would be catastrophic. So even this move must be seen in the context of the regime's survival strategy amidst Burma's internal reality of escalating anti-China sentiment. Whilst the regime has suspended the Myitsone Dam Project, its war on the Christian Kachin -- a war triggered in part by the dam project (see RLPB, label: Burma) -- continues unabated. In an 18 October report, Human Rights Watch estimates 30,000 Kachin are now displaced. While UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has inexplicably downplayed the situation, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, told the UN General Assembly on 19 October that recent fighting had resulted in more than 15,000 displaced Kachin being confined to a remote mountainous area on the Chinese border in conditions that can only be described as 'perilous'. According to Quintana, the UN informed the Burmese authorities that it was willing to help these Internally Displaced Persons but Thein Sein's government declined the offer. Furthermore, it is being reported that China is blocking the delivery of food, emergency shelter and medicines, leaving some analysts wondering if Kachin State is being ethnically cleansed at China's behest. Is the suspension of the dam project just a smokescreen behind which Burma will have three years to ethnically cleanse Kachin State? With the US working to bring Burma out of China's embrace into its own, will the US reward the tokens while ignoring the genocide (exactly as is happening in Papua, Indonesia)? No matter what the world does, the Church must not ignore the persecution of her sisters and brothers. With the Kachin people being over 90 percent devout Christian, the Church is being hit hard. Churches in Kachin State have been attacked, seized, used as prisons and burnt. The Christian Kachin are being raped, brutalised, enslaved, starved and slaughtered. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported on 31 October that in Maw Wan Ward, Phakant Township, the town administration is now requiring Christians to seek official permission to read the Bible, pray and fast, amongst other Christian 'cultural' activities. Requests must be accompanied by recommendations from other departments and must be submitted to the Township Administration Office 15 days in advance. With war and repression escalating behind a smokescreen of token reforms from a Burman-Buddhist-supremacist regime operating from a position of increasing geo-strategic significance, the Christian Kachin need our prayers for God's intervention now more than ever. PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT -- * the LORD will rise up in defence of his own people (Isaiah 59:15b-19); may their enemies 'be scattered' (Psalm 68:1), 'be put to shame and confusion' and 'turned back and brought to dishonour' (Psalm 70:2 ESV). * the God who provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16) and water from the rock (Exodus 17), who instructed the ravens to feed Elijah and resupplied the widow each night (1 Kings 17), who performs miracles (Matthew 14:13ff) and opens and closes doors definitively and at will (Revelation 3:7) will meet the needs of all the displaced Christian Kachin. ~~~~ SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ETHNIC CLEANSING IN BURMA BEHIND TOKEN REFORMS Whilst the West is lauding Burma for its reforms, these reforms are not about democracy but regime survival and advancing the regime's interests as anti-China sentiment inside Burma is soaring. Burma's duplicity is evident in that its war against the Christian Kachin people continues unabated. The regime appears intent on ethnically cleansing Kachin State where China wants to build a massive dam and hydro-power scheme. Some 30,000 Kachin are displaced, most without food, shelter or medical aid. The regime is imposing severe restrictions on Christianity in some Kachin towns. War and repression are escalating behind a smokescreen of token reforms from a Burman-Buddhist-supremacist regime operating from a position of increasing geo-strategic significance. The Christian Kachin need our prayers for God's intervention now more than ever.