Discussion to foster prayer for the persecuted church using Open Doors' calendar and world watch list. The downloadable World Watch List report and map, as well as country-specific fact sheets, can be found here:
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/wwl-downloads/
The online map and links to pages for specific countries can be found here:
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/
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Presidential Prayer Team: Iran Frees Imprisoned Pastor
Father, thank you for the release of Pastor Saeed Abedini and others in Iran. Thank you for sustaining him through his imprisonment - for your faithfulness to him and for intervening on his behalf. Please reunite him quickly with his family and restore him to full health. Turn the evil that has been done to him into good - for him, for his family, for the advancing of your kingdom - just like you did with Joseph.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Dec 19 - Chibok Parents Shed Light on their Daughters’ Plight
From the Open Doors website:
We come before you today, Father, to stand alongside the Chibok girls and their families, interceding on their behalf when their faith grows weak and hopelessness overtakes them, which surely it must at times. Thank You for the testimony of their faith. With these parents, we turn to you and not to earthly authorities, as we pray for the girls. We are reminded as we enter this Christmas season that Christ not only lived and died on our behalf, but He suffered here in ways we will never know, in ways that give us confidence that You understand our own suffering, even that of these girls and their parents. So in this time we set aside here to celebrate the birth of Jesus, God incarnate, we pray that You will encompass them with Your peace, that You will strengthen their faith and guard against turning away in hopelessness, that You will keep them from seeking help from charms and spells, and that You will strengthen them with Your Word to continue to live lives of forgiveness and hope. In the Name of Jesus, our one true and living hope, Amen.
Dec 19-21: Training
Father, thank you for the leadership and courage of Brother Zhang and others in China who are working with Muslim Background Believers. Please grant them wisdom to know how to shepherd those under their care, and protect and grow their ministries.
Holy Spirit, please guide and teach secret believers in Malaysia who lack discipleship materials and face danger from spies in their midst. Reveal the truth of God's Word to them even in spite of the lack of materials. Grant both spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts in their lives, and bless the believers both spiritually and materially as a witness to the non-believers among them.
Lord, please equip Christian women in Bhutan for ministry to those around them. Bring the spiritual growth, the wisdom and knowledge of you, and discernment in their relationships with believers, and use their teaching and leadership to grow new believers in their care.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
WWL #50 - Kuwait
Father, please care for the Christians in Kuwait who have been harassed and abused due to their faith in you. Change the hearts of leaders in the government with regard to the blasphemy laws and create an environment of increased religious freedom throughout the country.
Please protect the believers meeting in secret in Kuwait - protect them from discovery and persecution. Grow these fellowships both in the knowledge of you and in the bearing of fruit for your kingdom.
Raise up leadership for this country who know you and who will serve all the people of Kuwait, including religious minorities. Protect the country from any influence if Islamic extremism and terrorism.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Dec 18 - Pray for Syrian Christians Fifth Christmas in Civil War
Prayer from the Open Doors website:
Father God, Christ our Savior, and Holy Spirit, we bow before You this Christmas season bringing before Your presence our praise and adoration, our love and obedience, our very lives. And today, we bring before You our Syrian brothers and sisters who have suffered so long now. We come before You knowing that You have heard their cries even clearer than we have, and have answered in seen and unseen ways. We call on you to flood them with Your peace that passes all understanding and that You, the Light of the World, will enlighten their hearts and minds through Your Word and comfort their weary and wounded souls. Whether they have remained in Syria or have fled to other nations, give them hope and cause the light of Christ to shine through their lives. In the Name of Jesus, who has indeed won the victory over sin and death, who rules in heaven over earth’s kings and princes and who is interceding daily on our behalf, Amen.
Dec 13-18: Churches
Father, please take care of the Rohingya Christians in Myanmar, who are persecuted for their faith as a result of turning from Islam. Bless them and use them as a blessing to their families and neighbors, that more Muslims would be turned toward you.
Please provide guidance to the Yemeni Christians and enable them to bring the hope of Christ to a broken country. Make of your church an agent of transformation in this country that so desperately needs it.
Fill your children in the Central African Republic with spirits of forgiveness. Fill them with your grace and mercy and keep them from the natural tendency to retaliate with violence for the violence done to them. Instead, may the forgiveness of their hearts make plain the truth of the gospel and draw to you those who are currently standing against your church.
Lord, you are the God of reconciliation - please continue to bring reconciliation between Armenians and Turks, and place your church at the head of this. Make your church an agent of reconciliation, first internally and then outwardly in society. Unite your church across ethnic divisions and thereby prove the universality of the gospel - for all peoples.
Please bless the worship and fellowship of Christians in Algeria meeting in the mountains due to lack of church buildings. Bless their lives both spiritually and materially, and use them as a blessing to family members and neighbors. Raise up strong leadership for your church, and keep her pure in both doctrine and practice.
Open doors, Father, for the church in Brunei to share the Gospel with Muslim neighbors in this Christmas season. Open the hearts of Muslims to the truth of your grace and love, and to salvation in Jesus.
In His name, Amen.
WWL #49 - United Arab Emirates
Father, thank you for the committed believers in the United Arab Emirates. Bless their faith with spiritual and material fruit in their lives. Grant them encouragement through their times of worship together in their homes.
Please encourage Muslim Background Believers and keep them strong in their faith despite the pressures they face to recant their faith. Grant them favor in the eyes of families, employers, and communities. Bless them and make them a blessing to those around them, so that others may be drawn to you. Save entire households through the power of your word, so that families may encourage one another in their faith.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Dec 12 - Released Acteal Prisoners Face New Challenges
Prayer from the Open Doors website for believers in Mexico imprisoned for multiple decades for their faith.
Father, we pray for the ongoing challenges of these men now living in Tuxtla Gutierrez, even as we rejoice in their release from prison. We pray that the one final prisoner will be released soon so that the promised land will be given to them by the government. We pray for provision of food and shelter, for restored relationships with families, for protection from the temptation to turn to alcohol, for justice to be served by the government that they might be able to once again earn a living. And we pray for their encouragement and spiritual strength through the study of Your Word. In the Name of Jesus, the Bread of Life, Amen.
Dec 8-12: Government
Father, please raise up leaders in Ethiopia who will rule in love and justice. Root out corruption, bias, and violence from the government. Grant wisdom to the country's leaders to know how to allocate scarce resources fairly.
Please also soften the hearts of officials in Turkmenistan who are persecuting believers for celebrations of Christmas. Reveal yourself to them and replace their hearts of hatred with your love and grace.
Lord God, intervene on behalf of believers in Sudan falsely charged of insulting Islam. Give them courage and faith as they stand trial, and give them the words to say to bring you honor in the eyes of those who are far from you.
Please draw elected officials in Vietnam to yourself as believers celebrate Christmas this month. Open their hearts to the truth of your word; please don't let Satan continue to blind them to truth. Overcome hatred with love and compassion for them.
Please take hold of the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India. Reveal the glory of Christ to him, draw him to yourself in faith, and change his heart toward believers in India.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Dec 10 - Woman Who Survived 5 Weeks in Boko Haram Camp Speaks for F...
Prayer from the Open Doors website - please continue to remember those who have been captured and enslaved by this organization of evil and hatred.
Abba Father, full of compassion and mercy, you heard Mercy’s cry for help and rescued her. There is nothing in our experience to help us fully comprehend the horror she endured. But Christ, who has gone before us in suffering, understands. Continue, Father, to pour out Your grace and mercy on her. Apply Your healing balm to the terrors she must surely continue to endure. Fill her with courage to face each day and bring into her life those who can walk beside her in prayer and in the study of Your Word. And as You heal her wounds, make her an instrument of Your mercy in the lives of others, that Your church in Nigeria might grow and prevail even in the midst of persecution. In the Name of Jesus, who has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Amen.
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