Pray without ceasing

October 20th, 2008

Last week I read a letter that touched me. It reminded me that I am apart of a family that stretches across the globe. I have family that are being abused and killed. My prayers should be with them daily, my heart should be breaking for them. Here is the letter from Eric Ortlund.

Dear Friends -

I find I far too often tell people I’ll pray for them and then forget about it. I’m asking you not to be like me after reading this post. I’m sure some of you have heard about the persecution in India, in the northern province of Orissa - about 50,000 Christians have had to flee their homes under persecution by extreme Hindus. Churches have been burned and Christians have been tortured and martyred for their faith in Jesus. I’m asking everyone who reads this to pray frequently for these Christians, with whom we’ll be spending the rest of eternity - and to pray for their persecutors, that, like Paul, they’d see the light.

No corner of the Internet is really private, and one has to be careful about what one says; but the situation in India is no secret, so I think it’s OK to talk about it here. The sitaution in Mosul, a city in Northern Iraq across the Euphrates from Ninevah, is no secret either - 1300 Christians have been forced to flee, often entire families, under persecution. Christians have been martyred here as well. See this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7671609.stm

I got an email through the grapevine from an Iraqi pastor who talked about how families were sleeping in their cars, who had had relatives kidnapped and executed. I don’t want to be ashamed before him in Heaven by having to admit that I never prayed for him. Let’s not fail to pray for peace in this area, and even more deeply for Jesus to shine his light through his people.

Art is how I communicate, it is how I can express what my hearty is feeling. When I read this I felt not only saddness but an urgency to pray without ceasing. Paul’s words in 1 Thes. 5:16-18 amaze me. I need to pray without ceasing for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pass this story and art to anyone you know who needs to be encouraged by the Lord.