Voice of the Martyrs Prayer Watch

6 Nov 2013

IRAN: Update - Pastor Saeed Abedini Transferred to Brutal Prison

Pastor Saeed Abedini, a US citizen imprisoned in Iran because of his Christian faith, has been transferred from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. It is an even more dangerous prison, where he faces life-threatening conditions and treatment.

According to a release from Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Abedini's family members in Iran say he has been moved from Evin Prison in Tehran to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. It is an even more dangerous prison, where he faces life-threatening conditions and treatment.

A member of Abedini's family in Iran arriving at Evin Prison for a regular weekly visit was told that Abedini has been moved to this prison outside of Tehran - about an hour-and-a-half drive away.

The family member traveled to Rajai Shahr Prison and was told that Abedini is imprisoned there and not allowed any visitors.

Source: Assist News Service

Prayer Points

• Ask the Lord to protect Saeed in Rajai Shahr Prison and to keep his mind fixed on Christ.
• Pray that the Lord will be with Saeed's family and comfort them as they are not allowed to visit him.
• Pray that the Gospel will continue to spread in Iran and that the Lord will use Saeed's imprisonment to strengthen the church.

6 Nov 2013

ERITREA: Christian Woman Dies in Jail

An Eritrean Christian woman has become the latest known prisoner of conscience to have died in Eritrea. She was denied access to medical treatment because she refused to denounce her Christian beliefs.

Wehazit Berhane Debesai, who was in her thirties, died during the week of 14 October, of pneumonia following a year of imprisonment in harsh conditions, where she was denied access to medical treatment because she refused to denounce her Christian beliefs.

Debesai had been taking part in national service when she was arrested last year for her involvement in Christian activities outside of the government-sanctioned Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran church groups.

Debesai, who was engaged to be married, was then kept incommunicado in Adi Quala, near the Ethiopian border. Her death coincided with the arrest of around 70 Christians at a prayer gathering in Asmara, the capital.

Source: World Watch Monitor

Prayer Points

• Praise God for Debesai's faithfulness; ask the Lord to use her witness to draw people to himself.
• Pray that the Lord will comfort Debesai's family and fiancé in their grief.
• Pray for the 70 Christians recently arrested to remain strong.

6 Nov 2013

PAKISTAN: Punjab Christian Accused of Blasphemy Presently in Hiding

Another blasphemy row has broken out in a Lahore township where Christians fear they may become targets of violence. Adnan Masih, a 25-year-old Christian teacher, has been in hiding since 8 October after being accused of writing blasphemous comments in a book about Islam.

According to an employee of a glass and aluminium business, the book was left in the shop where Adnan's brother also happens to work. Consequently, the shop owner, Mushtaq Masih, was immediately taken into custody in Adnan's place. In addition, the brother and uncle of the accused are being held illegally for the same reason.

Christians residing in this area of Lahore, known as Bahadar Pura Bahar colony, say they fear a repeat of the devastating riot that took place in Joseph Colony during March of this year. Local police have been urged by Release partners to implement security measures in order to protect Christians and avoid any further outbreak of unnecessary violence

Source: Release Partners

Prayer Points

• Pray for God's peace and protection over the Christian families in Lahore.
• Ask Him to intervene on behalf of those who are being unjustly detained.
• Pray that the accusers discover the truth of the Gospel for themselves.

Abort 73 Prayer Points

• PRAISE: A $5,000 donation last week helped bring October giving to $13,881. That's our highest monthly total in three years! Also, the new promo booklets have arrived, and they look fantastic!
• Pray the new booklets do what they're supposed to do—motivate people towards the active embrace of Abort73 in defense of abortion-vulnerable children.
• I'm doing my annual web traffic analysis this week. Pray for insights into why Abort73 is losing traffic and what can be done to reverse this recent trend.
• Keep praying for shirt sales. We ended up selling 133 shirts in October. That was up from September, but is still well below our average.

Michael Spielman
Loxafamosity Ministries

Hope, Patience and Trust (Part 3).

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

In the previous two posts (Here and Here) we looked at the reason we have to rejoice in our hope, and what it means to be patient in tribulations. Both of those things involve trusting God - we need to trust that his word is true, that Jesus has saved everyone who puts their faith in him and that he will keep his promises.

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Be constant in prayer.

This command follows the similar thread: to pray to God is an expression of our trust in him. If we don't trust God then we won't pray for his help, we won't praise him for his grace and we won't be constantly turning to him with every need, fear and joy.

Why should we pray? We pray because it is us talking to God. When we read his word we are hearing God's words to us, and when we pray we are speaking to him. In doing so we are glorifying him by showing him we trust him. We are also (hopefully) being humble - realising that we cannot save ourselves and that we need his help for everything we do.

We also pray because it is God alone who can change things. James 1:5 says

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

The fact is that we cannot change our situation. We need God to change us, and we ask him for that help through prayer. As Christians it isn't our effort that changes us, it is God using our effort and working in us through the Holy Spirit to make us more like him. It's God through the Holy Spirit who initially saves us and convicts of sin (John 16:8-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:13), and it's him who changes us to make us more like him (Romans 5:5, Galatians 5:22-23). Therefore, since God is the only one who can save us and change us, we need to trust him and pray for his help.

Praying to God also shows that we have faith in him - we wouldn't pray to him if we didn't think he existed or if we didn't think he ever does anything for us. Therefore by constantly praying we would be constantly trusting in God. Constant prayer is also about praying to God about everything - everything we face, everything we enjoy, everything we fear and struggle with. God wants to hear us praying to him about these things because he loves seeing us trust in him.

But we shouldn't just pray about ourselves. God isn't our personal genie who will give us three wishes if we have enough faith. We need to pray out of trust in him, but we should also pray as a way of praising God. We should pray to thank him for all he has done and for who he is. We should pray in tribulations to help us be patient, and we should pray as part of our rejoicing in hope.

The question for us is this: how much do we pray? Does that reflect our trust in God?

I find it easy to sit down and go through a prayer list, and that is useful, although I struggle to make it genuine and it sort of becomes routine after awhile. But how much do we pray at other times? It shouldn't be a chore to pray - it should be a joy and a privilege that we use constantly.

I hope they were some helpful thoughts!
Soli deo gloria!
Nat.

Hope, Patience and Trust (Part 2).

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

In the previous post we looked at the reason for our hope and our joy, and today we'll look at the next command: Be patient in tribulation.

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Persevering in hardship. 

The greek words used here mean persevering with hope under a crushing load. In life we will face hardships - regardless of if we are Christians or not. The difference is that if we are Christians we can expect them (because God tells us we will be persecuted in 2 Timothy 3:12) and we can endure them with hope. We will suffer in this life, but we can rejoice knowing that no matter how bad things get here for us,m we have eternal life in heaven because if we have truly put our faith in Jesus we are completely forgiven.

As a result, even though we sometimes will face hardships that will tear us apart, we can trust in God's promises. What are those promises? There are many, but here are a few:

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

This verse tells us that God is with us, and so we know that whatever we go through we have a faithful saviour, king and friend who can guide us through it and is with us. We can also know that he understands - Jesus, who is God also suffered and he can empathise with us in our hardships and weaknesses (Hebrews talks about that)

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9) 

This verse shows us that God is in control. And we know from Romans 8:28 that he works everything for our ultimate good. No matter what we are suffering God is good and he will work it to bring us closer to him and make us more like him (James 1:2-4 also supports this).

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Although this verse is primarily about temptation, I think it still applies. Yes we will suffer. Yes it will sometimes get to the point of being unbearable. But God is good. He is faithful, and he will not give us more then we can bear. He won't give us so much that we have to disobey him or end it ourselves. He will always provide - trust him. It won't be easy. But it won't be impossible.

Life is tough. And God doesn't promise it will get any easier here. But he does promise to see us through this life and to bring us into his kingdom at the end.
Trust in him, he is the only one who can save us.
God Bless!
Nat.

Hope, Patience and Trust (Part 1).

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

 Here are three commands from Paul that we need to consider. They stem from his message in verses 1 and 2 - that we need to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and not conform to the world. If we are truly living for God, we should be doing these things. And they should be a joy for us!

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Rejoice in Hope.

What is our hope in and why should that make us rejoice? Our hope is the gospel, and we most certainly have reason to rejoice in it. So what is the gospel - the good news? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1). He created it all good, and he only had one command for Adam and Eve (the first Humans). But they disobeyed it and since then all humans have been living in rebellion to God and we have also rejected him personally in our lives. We all sin (Romans 3:23) and as a result we deserve God's perfect and just wrath against sin (i.e. death and hell eternally).

Nevertheless God is also merciful and gracious. Even though we did not deserve it or even ask him for it, he sent his son Jesus (who is also God, along with God the father and God the Holy Spirit - they are all the one God) into the world as a man. Jesus lived a perfect life. He did not disobey God and therefore he is the only human who did not deserve to suffer God's wrath. But he was also God - the only one who could be perfect and who's sacrifice would be enough to pay for sin.

He came to earth and lived among us, and then was murdered by us. We rejected even God's son who came with the good news. But God knew that that would happen - in fact he planned it to happen. Jesus' death was in fact the only way we could be saved: Jesus took the sins of everyone who did, does or will put their faith in him when he died on the cross. He didn't only take that pain, but while on the cross he also took God's wrath against every sin we (Christians) deserve to suffer in hell for eternally.

He was then buried, but he rose again on the third day - he came back to life because "the wages of sin are death" (Romans 6:23), and he had completely satisfied God's just punishment for sin, so death had no power to hold him. By coming back to life he proves that he is truly the one who has saved us, and he calls everyone to put their faith in him and repent of their sin - calling us to turn back to God. Everyone who genuinely does that will be completely and entirely forgiven. More then that, we are adopted as God's children and as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8). We can trust in all of God's promises, and we know that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead - and since we are forgiven we will go to be with him forever, glorying in his presence in heaven eternally with no pain or mourning or tears (Revelations 21).

That is the gospel. That is what we are to hope in and rejoice about. There is nothing better! Nothing fuller! Jesus is the only one who can save and if we turn to him we are saved entirely. We don't have to fear death. We don't have to fear hardship here. We can look forward to heaven and rejoice in that hope. We can look back to Jesus and rejoice in what he has done regardless of our earthly circumstances.

We have reason to hope! God is faithful.
We have reason to rejoice! Jesus saves wretched sinners who turn to him!
In Christ,
Nat.

Keeping our enthusiasm for God

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Romans 12:11

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.

How do we keep our enthusiasm (or zeal) for God? How do we maintain our love for him, for his word and our love of obeying him? How do we never be lacking in our passion for serving him?

They're the type of questions I've been working through lately - it's so easy to read the bible as just an academic exercise, to obey God out of mere duty. But to do it out of love? To love doing it because it's in service of our creator and saviour - that's entirely different, and I don't entirely know how we keep doing it.

Never be lacking in zeal.

The thing about our relationship with God is that it is never static. We are always either coming closer to him or further from him in our lives. We are either trusting him or relying on something else. We are either worshipping him or another. But how do we keep our enthusiasm for God? Here are a few thoughts:

• In some senses it does come down to a choice. We need to choose to serve God and to live for him. We need to choose to obey him. Without our choice to serve God and to live entirely for him with zeal, we will not do it. So that's a good first step. But how do we facilitate that? How do we make it real and genuine?

• The second thing to do it pray. God alone can change our hearts, and he alone can make us more like him. If we want to live for him and to love him we need to ask for his help - only he can replace our hearts of stone with ones of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). We need to pray constantly and consistently for God's help. He may not seem to answer straight away. he may not answer how we want. But he always hears the prayers of his people and he always does what is for our good (Romans 8:28).

• To love God we need to know him. To do that we need to read his word. We also need to reflect on his promises and his faithfulness - all he has done for us and for his people. Most of all: reflect on Jesus and what he has done for us and how unfathomable that love is. When we consider all God has done and recognise the depths of his love it's easier to love him back and therefore to live for him.

• Serve God. As we give our lives to God and invest them in serving him and as we store up riches in heaven, our hearts will be there also. Part of that involves removing our idols from our lives - we need to consider what we put before God in our lives and remove it from that place however possible. That's hard work! But to love God first we need to get rid of everything that's in the way. (1 John 2:15-17).

When we slip away and start to find that we are lacking in zeal we can work to fix it by doing these things. John, in Revelations 2:4-5 said this:

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

What are the works we did at first? Repentance and faith. We need to "confess our sins" because "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God will forgive us and if we genuinely turn back to him he will save us and bring us back to him. Pray, ask for his help and work at the things above!

Start now.

I hope they were helpful thoughts, fell free to comment if you have any thoughts or other ideas.
God Bless!
Nat.

Psalm 61:2-3

From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.