INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
More than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. You can stand with them.
In the modern church calendar, the first week of November is set apart to remember and pray for those persecuted for their faith in Christ. We call this day the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).
Today’s greatest untold story is that more than 300 million Christians worldwide face persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The suffering of persecuted Christians is very real and intensifying by the day in places such as North Korea, India, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Sadly, though brothers and sisters in the Lord share our faith, they do not enjoy our freedom.
Every two minutes, someone is killed for their faith. Together, we must pray for the millions of persecuted Christians as they face the world’s greatest problem — lostness.
IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution simply because they confess Jesus as Lord.
Will you stand with the persecuted and commit to pray?
helping you read the word
Prepare your heart for prayer with this ILI Team YouVersion Bible Reading Plan. We can learn great things from those who boldly witness for Christ, no matter the cost.
WHY we PRAY?
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:3 to “remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering”.
Can we pause our busy lives today and think of those enduring persecution for the sake of the Gospel? Let us remember those who have not eaten for days because they are given nothing to eat … those languishing in prison … Christian families who have watched their homes burn to the ground … pastors beaten and tortured for their faith, enduring physical pain … Christian families and children living in constant fear of violence … those who have lost loved ones … those facing death, even right at this moment, for refusing to denounce Christ…
If you or I were in such a situation, what would you ask your wider Church family to do for you?
Every time I ask a persecuted Christian what we can do for them, the answer is always the same, “please pray for us.”
On a visit to India, a team met several widows of Christian leaders who were killed in the Orissa violence in the summer of 2008. They had lost everything: their homes, possessions and husbands. “We have lost everything except our faith,” someone told the team, clutching her baby. “Pray that we stay strong and bring up our children in the faith for which their fathers gave their lives.”
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) gives us the privilege to join together with over half a million churches in 150 countries to pray for the suffering Church. It plays a vital role in encouraging and strengthening the persecuted Church and also awakening churches in places with no persecution.
Let us unite in prayer for the persecuted Church, in the spirit of oneness that Christ commanded: “For, if one suffers, we all suffer.”
*Statistic from Open Doors International.