Father God,
I lift to you those brothers and sisters living in countries where loving You is a crime. I pray that You would give them strength and conviction and to keep their final destination in the forefront of their minds. Raise up new leaders among their numbers that can share Your love with those who do not know You, and give them the mindfulness to find ways to do so in secret. Enlighten the leadership in these countries to see the truth of Your love, and help these leaders have the courage to stand against those who would terrorize the people who love You. Protect those who come to know You and are threatened by members of their own families. Give them a safe place to go, and work in the hearts of lawmakers in those countries where this atrocity is not forbidden. No one should have to be afraid of those that raised them just because of a decision to follow You. Make the light of Your love so strong in Your people that those around them can't help but be amazed and want the peace that is found only in You. Fill these believers with a love that overflows from their hearts and reaches out to those who need You the most.
Be also with those of us who live in places where we can be open about who we are in You. Open our eyes to the problems faced by our brothers and sisters overseas. Help us to love You the way martyrs throughout history have: enough to die for You rather than deny You. Be our first love, the one we would give anything for. Take our hearts, our plans, our desires and our lives and make them Yours. Help us to burn for You in a way that Your presence in our lives is undeniable. Help us to bring others to Your love, so that they may grow into the leaders we need to help spread Your truth to the whole world. Restore in us the faith, power and conviction we had when we first found You. Make us shine with the light of Your love so that others will desire to know what we know. Give us a ready answer whenever we are asked about the hope that is within us. Last but not least, help us to NEVER take our freedom for granted. We know that not everyone is fortunate enough to have that freedom, and we need to see it as the wonderful blessing that it is.
In Your Son's name we pray,
Amen
I lift to you those brothers and sisters living in countries where loving You is a crime. I pray that You would give them strength and conviction and to keep their final destination in the forefront of their minds. Raise up new leaders among their numbers that can share Your love with those who do not know You, and give them the mindfulness to find ways to do so in secret. Enlighten the leadership in these countries to see the truth of Your love, and help these leaders have the courage to stand against those who would terrorize the people who love You. Protect those who come to know You and are threatened by members of their own families. Give them a safe place to go, and work in the hearts of lawmakers in those countries where this atrocity is not forbidden. No one should have to be afraid of those that raised them just because of a decision to follow You. Make the light of Your love so strong in Your people that those around them can't help but be amazed and want the peace that is found only in You. Fill these believers with a love that overflows from their hearts and reaches out to those who need You the most.
Be also with those of us who live in places where we can be open about who we are in You. Open our eyes to the problems faced by our brothers and sisters overseas. Help us to love You the way martyrs throughout history have: enough to die for You rather than deny You. Be our first love, the one we would give anything for. Take our hearts, our plans, our desires and our lives and make them Yours. Help us to burn for You in a way that Your presence in our lives is undeniable. Help us to bring others to Your love, so that they may grow into the leaders we need to help spread Your truth to the whole world. Restore in us the faith, power and conviction we had when we first found You. Make us shine with the light of Your love so that others will desire to know what we know. Give us a ready answer whenever we are asked about the hope that is within us. Last but not least, help us to NEVER take our freedom for granted. We know that not everyone is fortunate enough to have that freedom, and we need to see it as the wonderful blessing that it is.
In Your Son's name we pray,
Amen
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