Pray Psalm 79:9-13.
Ask God to save and deliver the persecuted for the glory of his name. Pray that the groans of the prisoners will be heard by him and that God's strong arm will preserve them, so that they can praise God forever.
Romans 14:8 NIV
"So, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord."
Philippians 1:18-21
The Message (MSG)
So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!
And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
Romans 12:1
Offer your bodies as living sacrifices...
Matthew 5:44 MSG
Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer.
This following story, taken from a book called Jesus Freaks, is perfect to remind us how powerful today's prayer is, reminding us of what those who are imprisoned for their faith go through; but God's grace is greater than any pain that persecutors can cause... just read.
Smiling at Her Torturer
Liuba Ganevskaya, U.S.S.R., 1970s
Luiba, arrested for her faith by the Russian Communists, was kept in a solitary cell, starved, and
beaten. Still, she did not deny Jesus or reveal the names of other believers. She patiently suffered for the
sake of the gospel.
One night, when the guard insulted her with foul words and was just about to start beating her, she
somehow saw him differently.
She noticed for the first time that he was as tired of beating her as she was of being beaten. She was
worn out from lack of sleep, and so was he. He was as desperate over not getting any information from
her as she was about suffering for refusing to betray her friends.
A voice told her, “He is so much like you. You are both caught in the same drama of life. You and
your torturers pass through the same vale of tears.”
Liuba looked up at the guard who had already lifted up his whip to beat her. She smiled.
Stunned, he asked, “Why do you smile?”
She replied, “I don’t see you the way a mirror would show you right now. I see you as you surely once
were, a beautiful, innocent child. I see you, too, as I hope you will be. There was once a persecutor
worse than you named Saul of Tarsus. He became an apostle and a saint. What burden so weighs on you
that it drives you to the madness of beating a person who has done you no harm?”
The torturer put down his whip. He left that day a changed man.
“Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them they will not despise us
and persecute us. They certainly will. But not even that can hurt us or overcome us, so long as we pray
for them. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty, guilt and perdition upon
ourselves, and pleading to God for them. It is only when one sees the anger and wrath of God hanging
like grim realities over the head of one’s enemies that one can know something of what it means to love
them and forgive them.” —
***
God you save and deliver your children from persecution. Just as Liuba saw her persecutor through your eyes and refused to let darkness pass over hers and be blinded by her pain, she sought your truth instead. Through this she was wrapped in your strong arm and was able to pray for her persecutor. In the strength that abounded from you, she spoke. And as she spoke her persecutor listened and heard your words pour out of her mouth.
May many others who are persecuted find that they do not suffer in vain. That their physical brokenness is seen by you and that you long for a continued relationship through prayer. That you hear their pleas, their songs, their soft spoken words and you call out to them, "Well done good and faithful servant... Well done" as you reach down and fill their prison cells with your Holy Spirit, comforting them and opening up their eyes.
To suffer for you in order to one day kneel by your thrown so they can praise you forever is a feat not many people on this earth will ever know. But those who do let them not crumble before they reach your heavenly gates. May they find strength in knowing that they are pleading with you, blessing their enemies, and calling for grace all because something greater than themselves has changed their hearts. All because they want to be like your son. Allowing their enemies to see their best, not their worst as they offer their bodies as living sacrifices.
I just pray that those you deliver from being persecuted do not back down after being freed. That they continue to trust in your ways.
Amen.
Watch the video! It's a great song to end this 7 day blogging journey! Thanks to everyone who have read and prayed for our persecuted brothers and sisters!
And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
Romans 12:1
Offer your bodies as living sacrifices...
Matthew 5:44 MSG
Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer.
This following story, taken from a book called Jesus Freaks, is perfect to remind us how powerful today's prayer is, reminding us of what those who are imprisoned for their faith go through; but God's grace is greater than any pain that persecutors can cause... just read.
Smiling at Her Torturer
Liuba Ganevskaya, U.S.S.R., 1970s
Luiba, arrested for her faith by the Russian Communists, was kept in a solitary cell, starved, and
beaten. Still, she did not deny Jesus or reveal the names of other believers. She patiently suffered for the
sake of the gospel.
One night, when the guard insulted her with foul words and was just about to start beating her, she
somehow saw him differently.
She noticed for the first time that he was as tired of beating her as she was of being beaten. She was
worn out from lack of sleep, and so was he. He was as desperate over not getting any information from
her as she was about suffering for refusing to betray her friends.
A voice told her, “He is so much like you. You are both caught in the same drama of life. You and
your torturers pass through the same vale of tears.”
Liuba looked up at the guard who had already lifted up his whip to beat her. She smiled.
Stunned, he asked, “Why do you smile?”
She replied, “I don’t see you the way a mirror would show you right now. I see you as you surely once
were, a beautiful, innocent child. I see you, too, as I hope you will be. There was once a persecutor
worse than you named Saul of Tarsus. He became an apostle and a saint. What burden so weighs on you
that it drives you to the madness of beating a person who has done you no harm?”
The torturer put down his whip. He left that day a changed man.
“Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them they will not despise us
and persecute us. They certainly will. But not even that can hurt us or overcome us, so long as we pray
for them. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty, guilt and perdition upon
ourselves, and pleading to God for them. It is only when one sees the anger and wrath of God hanging
like grim realities over the head of one’s enemies that one can know something of what it means to love
them and forgive them.” —
***
God you save and deliver your children from persecution. Just as Liuba saw her persecutor through your eyes and refused to let darkness pass over hers and be blinded by her pain, she sought your truth instead. Through this she was wrapped in your strong arm and was able to pray for her persecutor. In the strength that abounded from you, she spoke. And as she spoke her persecutor listened and heard your words pour out of her mouth.
May many others who are persecuted find that they do not suffer in vain. That their physical brokenness is seen by you and that you long for a continued relationship through prayer. That you hear their pleas, their songs, their soft spoken words and you call out to them, "Well done good and faithful servant... Well done" as you reach down and fill their prison cells with your Holy Spirit, comforting them and opening up their eyes.
To suffer for you in order to one day kneel by your thrown so they can praise you forever is a feat not many people on this earth will ever know. But those who do let them not crumble before they reach your heavenly gates. May they find strength in knowing that they are pleading with you, blessing their enemies, and calling for grace all because something greater than themselves has changed their hearts. All because they want to be like your son. Allowing their enemies to see their best, not their worst as they offer their bodies as living sacrifices.
I just pray that those you deliver from being persecuted do not back down after being freed. That they continue to trust in your ways.
Amen.
Watch the video! It's a great song to end this 7 day blogging journey! Thanks to everyone who have read and prayed for our persecuted brothers and sisters!
