Sunday, November 10, 2013 is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).
Believers in countries such as Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam face violence, imprisonment and even death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. There are other places in the world such as North Korea where acts of persecution take place, but we don’t see or hear of it.
IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.As a church we are focusing on the plight of Christians in India, who are suffering increasing persecution by militants who want a Hindu-only India.Take a few minutes to watch this Introduction to IDOP video.
PRAY FOR INDIA
Militants who want a Hindu-only India have been open and opposing the church. Pastors have been murdered, others beaten. Churches and their congregations have been attacked or threatened.
In Odisha state severe anti-Christian violence in 2008 led to the death of 100 Christians. More than 4,000 homes and businesses were destroyed, and 50,000 India have been open and violent in Christians displaced.
Groups such as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also used political means to try to stem the spread of Christianity.
Seven Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws – though they are yet to be implemented in Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. This legislation imposes fines or imprisonment on anyone using force, inducement or ‘any fraudulent means’ to convert another – loosely defined terms wide open to abuse.
Christians say that the law is being used to curtail church activities, including social programmes. Church leaders are regularly attacked by Hindu extremists and then accused of forcing people to convert to Christianity.
You are encouraged to check IDOP’s new 7 minute video – Free to Follow – explaining the extent of persecution of Christians in India.
Pray for:
- Release partner the All India Christian Council (AICC) as it works to protect and serve Christians facing persecution. Pray for all those who receive legal support from AICC.
- AICC as it prepares to challenge anti-conversion legislation in the courts and so defend the religious freedom of Indian Christians.
- Christians who were displaced by mob violence in Odisha in 2008, and who are still unable to return to their homes.
Thank You Lord for Your precious church in India. Please guide them with all wisdom as they face physical attacks by militants as well as legal challenges to sharing Your gospel of truth. May Your people know You each day as their strong tower, shelter and shield. Lord, empower Your church by Your Holy Spirit that it may continue to bring good news to the poor, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
A PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS
Sovereign God, we worship you and rejoice that you know all of those who suffer in your name. We remember those who are imprisoned for their faith and ask that they, like the Apostle Paul, would be able to see that their chains have helped to further the gospel, not frustrated it. May they inspire and embolden their fellow believers to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
God of all comfort, for those who are tortured both in body and mind, give them the grace to endure and to see their suffering as part of following in Christ’s footsteps. Merciful God, for those asked to pay the ultimate price − who are martyred because of their love for you − may they truly know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Father God, for those who are widowed and orphaned as a result of persecution, may they know the comfort that comes from your presence. May they be strengthened by your Spirit, enabled to rejoice like the psalmist as they proclaim that the Lord will not abandon in death those He loves.
Heavenly Father, we ask that You would make us ever mindful of our brothers and sisters around the world who need us to stand with them as they suffer in Your name. Teach all of us what it means to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony; we pray that we would not love our lives so much as to shrink from death.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
Images courtesy of IDOP.org.
To learn more about the persecuted church around the world, check out International Day of Prayer’s website.
