prayer | Ain't Complicated

But Not of the World

This may be about your fellow believers:

The world’s worst persecutor of Christians in the world is North Korea.
In Saudi Arabia, practicing Christianity can result in death by beheading or stoning.
Over 90% of China’s Christians worship in hidden, underground house churches to avoid government regulations and restrictions.
There is only one Christian church left in the Gaza Strip, and its membership has dwindled to less than 100.
Algeria is about a quarter of the size of Texas, and only 3% of the population are Christians.
There are 69 languages in Iran, and only three of them have a completed Bible. Iran is also the third worst persecutor of Christians in the world.
It is believed there are less than 500 Christians living in the Maldives.
Open preaching in Sudan is punishable by beatings or imprisonment.
Christians make up less than 1.7% of the population in Pakistan, and over 70% of them are the poorest of the poor.
It is estimated that there are 1,100 Christian missionaries living in Turkey.

Source document: OpenDoorsUSA

He Prayed Earnestly

“”He prayed earnestly” (James 5:17).

What compels me to pray earnestly?

Not much.

Usually, a huge spiritual crisis…particularly in my family.

Nobody said I had to wait that long!

I believe earnest prayer can minimize and even prevent such crises from happening.

So pray, Mark!

Don’t grow lax and lazy.

Don’t be forgetful.

Don’t get tired and discouraged.

Don’t give up.

Target: Samir Kuntar

Sure, this fellow is a target of various Israeli forces.

But I have him in mind as a prayer target.

Is this the kind of person Christians should pray for?

Kuntar was serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison for murdering three Israelis, including smashing to death a 4-year-old girl with the butt of his rifle.

Among his yet-living victims who make good prayer targets: the mother to the above girl.

As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.