How to pray for persecuted Christiansecuted Christians

1. Praise God that He is all-knowing, that in Christ He

himself experienced shame, pain and agonising death.

Thank Him for His promise: “I will never leave you nor

forsake you” (Josh 1.5).

2. Pray that all governments will work for justice and

righteousness. While Jesus says that in this world we will

have trouble, He does not say that it will always be present

in every place.

3. Pray that leaders of liberal democracies will use their

influence to find ways to reduce, if not end, persecution in

countries where it occurs. Just as Paul appealed to Caesar

to seek justice, so we can appeal to secular governments.

4. Pray for the growth of the Church where persecution

flourishes, remembering that “the blood of the martyrs is

the seed of the Church”.

5. Pray for strength and courage for those experiencing

persecution, and for peace that only God can bring. Thank

Him that His grace is sufficient for their needs (2 Cor 12.9).

Pray that their faith will not fail, but that their suffering will

draw them closer to Him and increase their faith.

6. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable persecuted

Christians to forgive and love their persecutors (Matt

5:44) and that their Christ-like reactions will have an

impact on their persecutors.

7. Pray that the Lord will be at work in the hearts of

those who currently persecute our sisters and brothers

to bring them to a saving knowledge of Himself, as He

did with Saul of Tarsus.

8. Thank the Lord for the privilege of entering into the

sufferings of our sisters and brothers, remembering that

“if one part [of the body] suffers, every part suffers with it”

(1 Cor 12.26).

9. Pray that Christians who are experiencing

persecution will not lose the ability to accept or trust

genuine approaches from those who have formerly

persecuted them, as when the believers in Jerusalem had

to accept the reality of Saul’s conversion. Pray that the

Lord will give discernment, and relief from unnecessary

fears.

10. Pray for yourself and for persecuted Christians to

be spiritually ready for whatever tomorrow brings, be

that persecution, respitefrom suffering, or Christ’s return.