Ephesians 6:18-19 (The Message)
13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued….. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
19-20And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
PRAYER REQUESTS for April 25, 2008:
1. “We met Majid in his Persian rug store and learned that he had been having dreams of Isa. He was very open to discussing the Gospel. Before we left, I gave him my Bible and prayed with him.” This is the testimony of one our team members who recently shared Christ with a Neighbor. Please continue to pray for Majid, from Iran, that he will read the Bible and be given understanding and insight by the Holy Spirit and be drawn to Christ. Pray that we will be able to follow up with him and begin discipling him.
2. Today’s unreached people prayer focus, from The Joshua Project, are the Bosniak of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Worldwide, their population exceeds 2,986,000 but most of them reside in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Less than .02% of them are evangelical believers. PRAYER POINTS:
- Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the Bosnian toward Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel, and likewise may Christians be open and sensitive to share the Gospel with their neighbors.
- Pray that God will grant wisdom and favor to the missions agencies that are currently working among the Bosnian.
- Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to Bosnia-Hercegovina and share Christ.
- Ask God to encourage the few known Bosnian believers in this region.
- Pray that God will meet the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the Bosnian.
- Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Bosnian.
- Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Bosnian bound.
- Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the soil through worship and intercession.
3. As the scripture above urges, we need to pray for believers around the world who face persecution for their faith. Six of the top ten most challenging nations for believers are the Neighbor countries of: Saudia Arabia, Iran, Maldives, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. Please intercede for believers in these nations who are imprisoned or who face other forms of persecution. Pray that they will boldly live and proclaim the Gospel in spite of their circumstances, and that through their witness many will be drawn to Christ.
4. Praise God for the great reports from our Jesus Film teams in Indonesia. Pray for a CPM amongst these new believers, and for the protection and provision for our ministry teams.
- TEAM A: “Every time we show the film there are people who accept Christ. Presently we are working with 7 new believers that we have formed into a cell group. We are discipling them and training them how to witness to others. They are using the JF as a bridge to win their M friends. Pray for them.”
- TEAM B: “Even though there has been lots of rain, our team has faithfully shown the JF. This month 6 people were won to the Lord. Three of them were former Christians who had backslidden and joined the M faith but now have come back to Christ. Praise God!”
- TEAM C: “In Showing the film this month, two young men, named A & N, received Christ as their Lord. Both are from M families. Pray for their growth and maturity as we are currently discipling them.
5. Pray for upcoming neighbor ministry strategy meetings from May 6-9 in the Middle East.
6. Continue to lift up our partner ministry working amongst the Bajao in Dumaguete, Mindanao, Philippines. The Bajao community is suffering from an outbreak of measles which has recently killed at least three of their children. May the local churches, including the Bajao church, respond with the love and compassion of Christ to meet these physical needs.
7. ADAPTED from this week’s Jumaa Prayer Fellowship requests. Please pray….
…for a particular MBB suffering from family pressure in an undisclosed country.There are literally thousands more in similar circumstances across the Neighbor world.
…for the unrest in Nigeria. Violence against Christians continues unabated. Reports of deaths and demolished churches are frequent. Pray that believers will respond with love and forgiveness.
…for wisdom for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan as he faces pressure from radical elements to restrict Christian freedom and reintroduce inhumane forms of discrimination and punishment.