“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” — Matthew 5:11-12

Today’s sermon was on the persecuted church. A guest speaker came whose family had suffered persecution. He gave a first hand account of how his father fled from the home for over six years and how his family stood firm; risking their lives for the sake of the gospel. The service today reminded to pray of some specific things:

1) Pray that the believers being persecuted would stand firm in their faith, and that the believers who are being persecuted would remain united in their efforts for the kingdom of God.

2) Pray that God would open doors in for Christian literature to be printed so that the believers would be able to grow and develop their understanding of God, Scripture and theology.

3) Pray that the persecution of the believers would continue to make the truth of the Gospel evident to those who do not know Jesus Christ.

There are more things to be praying for, but these are the specifics that stood out to me this morning.