SPEAKER_00: As we begin, close your eyes and allow yourself to relax.
SPEAKER_00: Take a few deep breaths and find a quiet space distill your mind and body as we pray together.
SPEAKER_00: In the concluding statements of the letter to the Hebrews, the author pauses to tell the church, continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
SPEAKER_00: The context of this encouragement is the persecuted church.
SPEAKER_00: The author pleads for those of us practicing our faith in safety and freedom to remember those whose lives and families and well-being are on the line as they follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: First, let's thank God for his idea, the church, and the sovereign hand over the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let's thank God that the gospel message is reaching far and wide and that the story of Jesus is being told globally.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's lift up the churches and followers of Jesus in the anti-Christian and high persecution areas.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for these believers' safety, for their families' safety, for their protection, for supernatural covering, for spiritual strength, for their faith to grow and for peace that surpasses their understanding or circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: If you have a vague picture in your mind as you go to pray, maybe look up a few specific areas of the world where there is dire persecution of Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Pick one location and focus your prayers today on the faces of precious Jesus followers there.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God to stir up the joy of your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Let's close together.
SPEAKER_00: Pray this in your heart as I pray out loud.
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you for your protection and provision for your church globally.
SPEAKER_00: We stand together.
SPEAKER_00: My friends, praying along with me, and I ask for your specific grace and mercy for our brothers and sisters in areas of the world where they are actively persecuted for their faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that their faith would be strengthened.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that they and their families, in their businesses, in homes would be protected.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that they would experience your nearness in extra measure.
SPEAKER_00: We pray relief and favor even among those that are doing the persecuting.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for those suppressing the story of Jesus and oppressing disciples of Jesus, that they would experience and know the truth of Jesus and be overwhelmed and compelled by who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that many would come to faith in spite of these dire and dangerous circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen your church.
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen your people.
SPEAKER_00: Show yourself strong on their behalf.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.