Pray WITH Me - Part 2

But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. Luke 22:32 a (NLT)

For almost 80 years, Moses Xie served Jesus in his homeland of China. He became a Christian at age 14 and attended North China Seminary in the 1940s. Soon he became a leader in the Chinese Evangelistic Association and an editor for several Chinese Christian magazines.

However, in 1956, he was imprisoned for his faith. .At one point during his imprisonment, the persecution was so bad, he tried to end his life. But God stopped him, telling him it wasn't his time yet and that His strength was being made perfect in weakness.

For another 23 years, he remained interred at the prison camp, growing in his relationship with God and ministering to all who came to visit him. He often asked his visitors to pray for him because he understood the importance and power of praying with others.

1. Moses Xie knew that when others prayed for him, they were reaping the benefits of prayer in their own lives. As they entered God's presence to pray, they would receive a blessing from that time spent in his presence. In turn, those blessings would encourage deeper personal growth and more time spent in prayer.

2. As people pray for the persecuted church and its members, God is able to speak to them and open doors for them to help in other ways - including through their finances and mission's ministry.

3. As people become dedicated to praying, they become intercessors, willing to do battle together with God to bring about his will in those areas of heavy persecution. They begin to pray WITH those who are being persecuted that God will save their enemies and bring many souls to himself and not just for the safety or personal needs of those being persecuted.

After his release from prison, Pastor Moses Xie continued to preach about Christ, and was arrested several more times. He became a mentor to many young people through his continuing ministry.

He passed away at age 93 on June 30, 2011, leaving a great legacy of faith to the people he served.

Lord may our lives grow strong because of time spent with you - to the point where we are open to your prompting to help others and to pray with them for the salvation of friends and family around them. Amen.

Pray WITH Me

My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people. Ephesians 1:18 (CEV)

What is the difference between praying for people and praying with them? I never really thought much about it until I read an article about a persecuted Christian the other day.

When we pray for them, usually we're praying a personal prayer for that person. We are praying for God to work in their lives - for their health, their safety, and for God to meet their needs. We often ask God to deliver them from the circumstances in which they find themselves. But what we don't realize is that those circumstances might be the very things God is using to complete the bigger picture - to save their family, to bring about a deeper relationship or healing in their lives or to save many others.

When we pray with a person, we are uniting our hearts with theirs and asking God for the same things they are. For example, this persecuted Christian had spent many years in prison for his faith. But he always asked people to pray with him - that God would move in his land and use his persecution to bring many souls to Christ! He never asked people to pray for his personal protection or release from prison!

It's not wrong to pray for a person when they're going through difficult times. We've all been there - struggling and seeking a way out of the painful circumstances. But maybe we're missing the mark a bit because we fail to see what God sees in the situation.

I love Laura Story's song, Blessings. "What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are Your mercies in disguise?"

Lord teach me to see things through your eyes and to pray with those who are in difficult circumstances for your will to be accomplished. Amen

The presence of prayer

“Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. But you must resist the devil and stay strong in your faith. You know that all over the world the Lord’s followers are suffering just as you are.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 CEV

Can you imagine what it would be like to be imprisoned because of your faith in the Lord?

I recently read an interview of two Christian women who were jailed in a notorious foreign prison. One of the things that spoke to my heart was the fact that many people sent letters to these women to encourage them but the women never received the letters. Their captors read the letters, then taunt the women by refusing to let
them see the mail.

According to one of the women, even though they never saw the letters, they were encouraged because they knew many were praying for them. They knew that the Bible verses in those letters were being read by their enemies and were impacting the lives of their captors.

It would have been easy to succumb to discouragement and defeat, but the women were able to stay strong, because they sensed the very real presence of all these prayer warriors with them in their cells, holding them up and keeping them strong.

WOW! Prayer is so necessary and important - so much more than a bedtime ritual. Through prayer, those women actually felt the presence of other believers with them in their suffering. Now, that's powerful.

Prayer is a lifeline, a palpable presence, helping those who are suffering to stay strong in their faith.

Do you know someone in prison or who is suffering for their faith? Commit to pray for them today!