Weekly Watch Focus: Covering Prayer for Persecuted Christians

FRIDAY, April 5, 2013 This last year has seen an increase of persecution of Christians around the world, especially in the Islamic world. In Pakistan, hundreds of Christian homes have been burned. In Indonesia a mob recently burned a church. In Egypt, the Coptic Christians are under intense persecution. Iran continues to target Christians, breaking up home churches and imprisoning pastors.
Pray for our brothers and sisters, many of them in danger of their lives. Pray for the pastors, priests, and families of the leaders of these congregations under persecution, especially in these nations. Pray specifically for the safety and release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran.

Matt 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Rom. 8:36, 37, “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

2 Cor. 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”