Int. Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP)

[Pat Allen]

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) - Save the date November 11, 2012 - Plan to link into the 12 hour Conference Prayer Call 8a-8p GMT-4

International Orality Network

- ION Prayer is pleased to link with The Persecution Watch, Capitol Hill Prayer Partners and Mission America Coalition (Lausanne USA) to release this announcement. Plan to share & join in this important prayer time for IDOP.

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP)

Sunday, November 11th (Mark your calendar)

Prayer Conference Call for IDOP

Dial: 209.255.1000

Access Code: 109083#

8 am - 8 pm (EDT) GMT-4

In the traditional church calendar, “All Saints Day” and “All Souls Day” stand out in the month of November, set apart to remember the saints of the church and the souls of those who departed this world. It is fitting, then, that the modern church has set apart the month of November to remember and pray for the persecuted church, through the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). This year with a focus on prayers for Iran.

IDOP 2012 Flyer Prayer Guide
http://www.getamericapraying.com/groupdocs/90_1349717536.pdf

IDOP 2012 Bulletin Inserts  Share with your church or prayer groups!
http://www.getamericapraying.com/groupdocs/90_1349717470.pdf

Plan now to join in praying for the Persecuted Church on the Conference Prayer Call. You may invite others. While we have a prayer guide, this 12 hours will be spirit driven prayer. That simply put is the Holy Spirit can direct and guide the prayers of the saints on the call.

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Focus: Pray for Iran

Population: 74.2 million

Capital: Tehran

Government: Theocratic republic

Religion: Muslim 96%; Zoroastrian 2.6%; Christian 0.58%; Other 0.82% 

• · Freedom for all faiths other than Shia Islam is very limited, despite constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.
• · Evangelising Muslims is banned and the official penalty for apostasy (conversion from Islam) is death, although the sentence is rarely carried out.

 · Most Christians are discriminated against in education, employment and property ownership - those from a Muslim background paying a particularly high price for their faith.

• · Most Christians arrested are held for less than a month, although bail demands can be very high (up to £160,000). Many leave the country after being released from detention.

 

Prayers for Iran

 

Please distribute these written prayers and prayer points to your Bible study or small group so you can pray for persecuted Christians in Iran. Consider posting these prayer points on your Facebook page or website, so that others can join you in praying. You may also like to use this Litany for the persecuted church.

Please use this short prayer for persecuted Iranian Christians as part of your contribution to IDOP. You can also use the Iran Prayer Map, produced by the UK agency Release International, which gives prayer points for individual Iranian Christians. 

Prayer for Iran

Lord God, majestic in power, we pray that today Your precious family in Iran may know You as the Father of compassion and God of all comfort.

Please strengthen and protect your family which faces persecution and hardship for the sake of Jesus.

Give wisdom to Your church in Iran, as they meet both publicly and in secret.

Encourage those who have been detained or imprisoned, and who are now separated from their loved ones. Please guard their hearts and minds with Your peace which transcends all understanding.

We pray for believers from a Muslim background who often face the greatest challenges. Please help each one to walk closely with You, to find fellowship with other secret Christians and to grow strong in Your Word of truth.

Thank you for each and every believer in Christ in Iran: may Your love surround them and Your power protect them from the evil one.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN PRISONERS

Pray for Christians in prison where treatment can be brutal; prisoners can be subjected to torture and rape. At least 20 believers (mostly from a Muslim background) remain detained across Iran because of their Christian faith and activities.

PASTOR YOUSEF NADARKHANI: RELEASED 

Detained from October 2009 and sentenced to death for apostasy (converting from Islam). Pastor Nadarkhani refused to recant his faith, and was released on September 8 after the charge of apostasy was dropped. Pray for him as he re-adjusts to life with his family.

PASTOR BEHNAM IRANI - Serving a jail term in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj, since May 2011 for ‘anti-government activity’. Pray for healing as he has suffered mistreatment and ill health in jail. 

FARSHID FATHI - His six-year prison sentence for 'acting against national security' and 'religious propagation' has been upheld at an appeal court. Farshid is detained in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Pray for his early release.

 

MARYAM JALILI - Maryam is a Muslim-background believer who was sentenced to two and a half years in December 2011 for being a member of an ‘illegal group'. She is understood to be in Evin prison, Tehran. Pray for God’s protection.

 

MASOUD DELIJANI - Given a three-year sentence in February in Kermanshah for holding illegal house church gatherings, evangelising Muslims and action against national security. He was allegedly denied the right to choose his own advocate or defend himself. Pray for strength to stand firm.

Liturgy: Remembering the persecuted

Invitation to worship

Leader: In You, Lord, do I take refuge

Response: Let me never be put to shame

L: In Your righteousness, deliver and save

R: Be as a refuge and a strong fortress (Psalm 71:2-3)

Almighty God, who has taught us through your Son, Jesus Christ, that those who follow Him may be persecuted: strengthen, comfort and encourage all those who suffer harassment, violence, imprisonment and even death for being followers of Jesus. 

We pray for those who persecute your people; may their hearts be turned towards you through the faithful witness of those they persecute. Protect members of the families and church communities of those who are persecuted and bless the work and ministry of Release International and its partners as they support those who are suffering and seek to be a voice for persecuted Christians.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 

Liturgy: Closing prayer

Lord God, heavenly Father, give us the courage of the martyrs to bear witness, without flinching, to Your great love for us. 

Give us their confidence in the resurrection of Your Son, Jesus, and give us that same power and reassurance of the Holy Spirit as You give them, so that we too may fearlessly bring Your good news to a needy world. 

This we ask in the name of Him who was crucified for us and who called us to take up our crosses and to follow Him, even Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

R: Amen and Amen

Download printable pdf

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Persistently prevailing,

Linda Bemis
Director, Prayer

International Orality Network

- Influencing the body of Christ to make disciples of all (4.35 billion) oral learners - 2 billion are children!

Email: [e-mail]
Visit www.InternationalOralityNetwork.org or at www.oralbible.com 

Isaiah 42:16  "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."

*For additional information on the call or during the call, contact:
Blaine Scogin
The Persecution Watch
Eph.6:18
email: [e-mail]