05 Nov Would You like to Be Involved in a Remarkable Work of God?
God is working in powerful and amazing ways today around the world. However, we, in United States are often not aware of it because most of it is not happening here.
Christianity is exploding in Latin America, Africa, India, the Middle East, China, and southern Asia. People are coming to Christ, not by the thousands, not by the hundreds of thousands, but by the millions! And in many cases, this is happening in very remote and inaccessible places.
For example, hundreds of thousands of house churches are springing up in North Africa, India, and China, representing millions of people. Because of the hostility of those governments to Christianity, much of what is happening is underground – being kept as quiet as possible to protect those involved.
Often, the church is growing the most where persecution is the worst. The Open Doors monthly prayer calendar details the often horrifying experiences of believers in hostile places, giving us not a complete picture of the persecution, but a representative sample of it.
The Church in Iran
In an astonishing Fox News report (https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/worlds-fastest-growing-church-women-documentary-film), we learn that the church in Iran is the fastest growing church in the world (percentage-wise) doubling every five years.
In the report, one Iranian pastor said, “What if I told you Islam is dead? What if I told you the mosques are empty inside Iran? What if I told you no one follows Islam inside of Iran? Would you believe me? This is exactly what is happening inside of Iran. God is moving powerfully inside of Iran.”
The pastor adds: “What if I told you the best evangelist for Jesus was the Ayatollah Khomeini?” As mentioned in the report, the ayatollahs brought the true face of Islam to light and people discovered it was a lie…After 40 years under Islamic law — a utopia according to them — they’ve had the worst devastation in the 5,000-year history of Iran.
This movement is called “The Iranian Awakening.” It owns no property, no buildings, has no central leadership, and is predominantly led by women.
But the new believers in Iran face great risks. Again, in the report, one believer said, “We know that if they get us, the first thing they will do to us as a woman is rape us and then they will beat us and ultimately, they will kill us. This is the decision we have made – that we want to offer our bodies as sacrifices. I have this thought when I wake up, that when I leave that door, I might not come back.”
A leader of the Iranian underground church explains their goal is not planting churches but rather making disciples. “Disciples forsake the world and cling to Jesus ’till he comes. Converts don’t,” the leader said. “Disciples aren’t engaged in a culture war. Converts are. Disciples cherish, obey, and share the word of God. Converts don’t. Disciples choose Jesus over anything and everything else. Converts don’t. Converts run when the fire comes. Disciples don’t.”
And a pastor explains everything they do underground is built on prayer. “We find people of peace through prayer. We even find locations through prayer,” he says. “[Jesus] has come in their dreams or he’s come miraculously in their lives. When we hear this, we know that Jesus has gone ahead of us.”
One Iranian believer said not to pray for the persecution to stop. The persecution is what is fueling the evangelism. Rather, we are to pray that the trials will soften hearts to hear the message of the gospel and motivate Christians to share it.
What a remarkable work of God!
The Church in Syria
This remarkable story is repeated over and over in this emerging church movement. Sometime back, I read of a recent Dallas Theological Seminary graduate who returned to his home country of Syria. He and four other men bought a burial plot large enough to bury all five of them, and then they went out to influence their country for Christ, knowing that they might all sacrifice their lives as a result. He said, “So far, none of us has been buried in the plot. But don’t feel sorry for us. We have never been so free!”
What a remarkable work of God!
Prayer for the Persecuted Church
How can we be involved in this remarkable work of God? Often, there is nothing tangible we can do, other than financially supporting trustworthy ministries who’ve made inroads into hostile areas. We don’t even know who many of these people are or where they are. However, a consistent theme of persecuted believers is: “Please pray for us.”
And imagine, if you were in their shoes! Luke 6:31, the Golden Rule, says, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” If you were in their shoes, would you not want as many people as possible praying for you?!?
Hebrews 13:3 says, “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
Those of us who do not suffer persecution for being believers should spiritually adopt those who do, and pray for them faithfully. You can sign up for a monthly prayer calendar at: https://www.opendoorsusa.org. In doing so and praying faithfully for the needs, we can participate in this remarkable work of God.
I imagine the possibility that in heaven we will be able to hear all the stories of the remarkable works of God that happened in those desperate places for our spiritual siblings because we prayed.
I consider it a privilege to be involved in God’s remarkable work by doing all that I can through prayer!
If you aren’t doing so already, I encourage you to regularly pray for your spiritual siblings in the persecuted church.
And, if you would like some additional guidance in your prayer time, please download this free, short pdf I’ve created that includes five suggestions for staying involved in God’s remarkable work by Praying for the Persecuted Church.
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