Do They Ever Cross Your Mind?

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. (Acts12:5, NKJV)

"Are the Christians in the west even praying for their brothers and sisters in prison?"

These words were uttered in 1955 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand who, at the time, had been incarcerated for seven years for no other reason than he loved the Lord. His incarceration wasn't just any kind of lock up though; no, his would end up being fourteen years of the most unspeakable, unimaginable, inhumane confinements known to man. For 14 years Pastor Wurmbrand would endure almost every kind of torture the human brain could imagine, not to mention the emotional and mental abuse he would be forced to suffer at the hands of his persecutors. And in the midst of all this, while clinging to his Lord and savior for strength and endurance, one pressing question that often came to his mind was whether his brothers and sisters in the west praying for him and others like him.

I can tell you that Pastor Wurmbrand believed they were. Listen to the words he spoke: "I rejoice with those in the West by thinking of their comfortable homes and the books they have, the holidays they can plan, the music they hear, and the love they have for their wives and children. And I remember the second part of the verse, from the epistle to the Romans: 'Weep with those who weep.' (Ro.12:15, NKJV) I am sure that in the West many thousands think of us and try to help us with their prayers." This is what Pastor Wumbrand believed. But was he correct? Were those in the West praying for him or better yet, was he even crossing their minds. I know the pastor posed this question in 1855 but it's a question that should still be posed to us today on 2018.

I'll speak for myself. Until I began to read books our persecuted brothers and sisters in countries so far away, praying for them never crossed my mind because I never thought about them. Before my eyes were opened to what they were enduring, it was like they didn't exist. But then I read three books and am currently reading a monthly newsletter that placed my persecuted brothers and sisters in my thoughts and prayers where they will always remove.

The books are:

*Jesus Freaks by DC Talk

*The Insanity of God: The True Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripkin

*Wurmbrand: Tortured for Christ, The Complete Story by The Voice of the Martyrs

The newsletter is :

*The Voice of the Martyrs

These books and this newsletter are reads I believe every Christian should partake in because they open our eyes to what others have suffered and are currently suffering through just because they want to serve God. These materials will show you how desperately our prayers are needed for those who don't have the luxury of religious freedom like we do but who serve God regardless. When you read these, I guarantee you that not only will our persecuted brothers and sisters cross your mind, their stories will be embedded in your brain; in turn this will lead to us, as a church, praying for them just like the early church prayed for Peter which was constantly. Constant prayer was offered for Peter and we too should constantly pray for those who need it.

We should constantly be praying for our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters who have dared to defy their governments, cultures, and families by placing their faith in the God of the holy scriptures, seeking him daily in those scriptures. They do this knowing that not only will they face constant persecution from their governments and families. but also from the terrorist groups that occupy their regions and who incarcerate, torture, and behead Christians to dissuade others from accepting Christ into their lives. Yet, they pray, worship, and follow the scriptures anyway.

We should be constantly praying for our brothers and sisters in China attending the many underground house churches, enjoying their time of worship and fellowship, all the while biding their time until they are found out, arrested, and sent to prison. But, get this, some of them actually look forward to this because, to them, the man or woman who can go to prison (which they refer to as seminary) for the name of Jesus and return with the same zeal they went in with is a person who truly loves the Lord.

we should constantly be praying for every brother or sister in every communist country, in every Islamic dominated region. and anywhere else on the face of the earth where Christianity is prohibited, who every day seek to worship the Lord their God, to study and learn his word, knowing the penalty they face can be prison, torture, or death. Christians around the world are suffering to worship and live for God the way the Bible commands and they need our prayers and they need them constantly.

Today, if these individuals, who are family in Christ, never cross our minds, let us place them in our minds and pray for them as we would for our immediate family members. Pray for them like you would far a sick mother or father, a son or a daughter. And in doing so, let us pray constantly.

* For more information about Christians who are currently being persecuted, please log on to vom.org/about and PrisonerAlert.com and also mark this down on your calendars: Nov. 4th is the international Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. On this day believers around the world join in responding to the persecuted Christians' main request - "Pray for us!" Please mark this day and make sure your pastor and other church leaders are making plans for your church to join the worldwide Body of Christ In prayer on this important day. Thank you and God bless.

Prayer for today: Dearest Lord and Father of us all, we lift up to you all the faithful who serve you in the face of persecution and death. Protect and strengthen and keep them always in our thoughts. Amen.