Friday April 28, 2000
This Week We Pray For: Believers To Be Prepared For Persecution

Very few Muslims escape persecution after they accept Christ into their hearts. As they are thrown in jail, beaten and tortured, threatened with death, and suffer pain, hunger, thirst and cold, often they discover they are not prepared for this kind of treatment. Some of them are not willing to persevere with the Lord. They turn their backs on Him and revert to Islam to avoid suffering. But others persevere and stand firm in their faith. They know that the price is very high, yet they endure with trust and determination.

Prayer
You, Lord, know what it means to be despised and rejected and to suffer persecution. You told us, "A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God" (John 16:2). You also said, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20). I pray that You will bring such passages of Scripture to the attention of all my Muslim brothers and sisters who have accepted You.

Prepare them, O God, for suffering and pain. Fill them with courage and holy boldness to stand for You, firm in their faith and obedient to Your Word. Prepare them emotionally for the rejection and ridicule they will encounter. Prepare them physically to withstand beating and torture. Above all, prepare them spiritually to continue to be faithful to You to the end.

Promise
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer...the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).