777 - SEVEN DAYS OF PRAYER (JULY 1-7, 2014)

DAY 5 (JULY 5, 2014):

DELIVER US FROM EVIL

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen... (2 Timothy 4:18 ESV).

The popular cultural and societal notion is "there really is no evil" in this world. Even those in the liberal mainlines churches  refuse to come to terms that there is a devil - Satan - who is the accuser of the saints seeks to kill, steal and destroy. The atheist and the liberal deny the existence of evil for a simple reason. That reason is, to accept the existence of evil, one has to accept the existence of Good....and Who is Good? God is good!

Those who are under the oppression of evil know it exists. They know it in the Christian towns of the Islamic Middle Eastern Countries, in Pakistan, throughout Africa where hordes are rampaging through Christian countries. The persecuted know that evil is not just those who suffered under Stalin, Hitler, Castro, Mao and Pol Pot. 

To deny the existence of evil, and blame "society, or capitalism or democracy", is easier than recognizing that our own sin opens us up to be brought down and put in spiritual bondage by evil.  This sort of thinking prevents many from coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and it remains an obstacle to most professing Christians, who accept the defeat of the devil. Both sets of people are outside of the Victory which God, through Christ, provides in the following:

Romans 8:31-39:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

LET US PRAY:

Most Holy and Righteous Father in Heaven, our Help in ages past and our Hope in years to come, be Thou our guide while life shall last and our Eternal protector from the wiles of the evil one. Father, You, through the Mighty Son - Jesus Christ - rescued us from the dominion of darkness, set our feet upon a rock - the Rock of Christ - and put a new song in our heart, and saved us out of the pit. Father, we know that we are victorious because of the Cross and are under the protection of Heaven.

Holy Father, we also know we are under the attack and accusations of the evil one who desires not just to fall, but failing that, to keep us distracted from you. Father, entire generations have been lost to the kingdom in the recent past because we have confused works for worship and self-praise with prayer.

Your church, which Your Son gave His life for, has gone silent, ineffective and even corrupt. Because we have failed You as a Body and a unit, we have failed in our mission to keep our families together, our towns and cities together, our country together and as a result, both the culture and the country now stand in Judgment of You. 

By doing almost nothing, saying nothing and even conforming to this latter day evil, those who call themselves by Your Name are a defeated  and ineffective bunch themselves. For that, I repent, oh God. I see Your forgiveness and ask that You not just keep us from Temptation but deliver us from the wiles and cunning of the Accuser. I pray that You, from Your High and Lofty Throne in Heaven, look down upon us, send Your angels to watch over us to keep us from getting blinded-side. I pray that You not just build strong fortresses around our families and homes, but that You build a wall of fire around our hearts that our love for You will growing stronger and stronger and never grow old or cold.

Lord, we thank You that You are our standard-bearer and is always there for us when we call on You. We love You, praise You and worship and adore You and ask Your Mighty Hand upon us as we rest in the very shadow of Your Mighty Wings, in Jesus Strong and Mighty Name, amen.

THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS, PART 1

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)

When the terrorists in Syria recently charged the ancient Christian village of Maaloula in the Syrian mountainside where the minority Christians lived for almost 2000 years, do you think they felt blessed? According to eyewitnesses, the moslem terrorists told villagers "‘Either you convert to Islam or you will be beheaded,". The village of Maaloula is one of the last on this earth which still spoke the ancient language of Aramaic. Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus Himself and can only be found in Syria, in these last days.

What has been happening during the violent Syrian civil war has already been repeated in Iraq, with one million Chaldean Christians being persecuted, killed and displaced and in Iran and other middle eastern countries. Pakistan and India are catching up with their cousins in the middle east and doing the same to God's people. These are just some of the latest examples of what has been happening to followers of Jesus Christ since before He was even crucified in 33 AD in Jerusalem. Jesus warned of this and this warning has been fulfilled time after time after time for almost 2000 years now. 

Persecution is occurring in not just these Arab countries, but in almost every corner of this earth. In Part 2 of this, some pointers on how to survive persecution anywhere in this world where this blog is read, will be provided, from the Word of God itself.  What Christians should find comfort in, is that this is as bad as it is going to get for true believers. Eternity in Glory is nothing compared to those what happens in this old earth. In countries like China, or the Philippines or India etc, where there are not the comforts of life, their hope and faith are truly remarkable things to behold. We can bless them by praying for them daily because believe it or not, some in the Chinese persecuted church are actually praying for us as well! One day, we will all rejoice before the Throne with the One Who will welcome all His children with "well done, good and faithful servants".

URGENT: PRAYER NEEDED FOR PERSECUTED PASTOR

IMPRISONED & PERSECUTED
PASTOR BENHAM IRANI

The Persecution of God's people has been increasing horribly in more and more islamic countries, as the day of Judgment approaches. Right now, there are over 8 million of our Coptic Christian brothers under the sandal in Egypt. In Iraq, over 1 million Chaldean Christians, who lived outside Baghdad for almost 2000 years have been displaced, hunted down and hurt by extremists....and on and on.

Now comes news of  jailed Iranian pastor Behnam Irani who is near death after been beaten by his islamic torturers in Iran. The forty year old pastor was jailed in 2011 for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ - nothing else! He has been beaten so badly, left unconcious and bleeding in his jail cell, that he has developed infections in his colon and acute ulcers which have prevented him from walking. The word from the inside (and God has His own people, even inside the lions' den) is that Pastor Behnam will die soon if he does not receive immediate medical attention and treatment. The increasing beatings by his moslem captors have worsen these conditions and urgent prayer is needed for him.

This young man, is the married father of two and was the leader of the Church of Iran in Karaj (Iran) when the local mullahs gave him a six-year sentence in Ghezel Hesar prison. He is only in year one of the sentence! His current condition has been exposed to the civilized world by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a UK-based religious freedom organizaiton. (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS AND OTHER PERSECUTION NEWS OF THE SAINTS OF CHRIST WORLDWIDE). This incident with Pastor Behnam comes quickly on the heels of the persecution and subsequent release of another Iranian Pastor Yousef, who was due to be executed by the islamic Iranian authorities for being a follower of Jesus Christ. Yousef was only recently released after worldwide outrage and pressure shamed the government there into releasing him. These same people reacted by arresting Pastor Yousef's own attorney and he is now in persecution prison for the crime of being a Christian!

While the American press, and even some in the US government were brought kicking and screaming to recognize Pastor Yousef's outrageous planned execution, there is complete silence of Christians persecuted worldwide. from American church leaders - the famous ones - as well as the US department of state. US Congressman Frank Wolf (R- Virginia) has been doing the Lord's work to bring all of this to our attention. While Pastor Behnam may not have achieved the same public voicing of the grievous wrong done him, the Body of Christ needs to pray for him now. His reward is a crown in the Kingdom of God, where his captors and those who remain silent, will not be allowed. 

Therefore, our project for this week, as men and women of God, who were saved by the same Jesus Christ for Whom our Iranian brother is suffering, is to pray for his comfort, his healing or the Divine Intervention of the Lord Himself - no matter what that may mean. Amen