"How Do I Respond to All the Suffering?" :: Pray

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)

This perhaps is the most obvious response when we look at the persecution that is going on and yet is not quite so easily done.


We are told to remember those who are in prison and remember those who are mistreated. I do not believe that the thought that is being conveyed is to not simply remember and acknowledge that it is going on. But I believe the thought being conveyed here is to remember them in our prayers.


I think it is also worth noting that we are told to do this “as though in prison with them”. It is almost as if the author of Hebrews were saying “Remember those that are in prison, but don’t just do it once a year on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. But do it as frequently as you would if you were in prison yourself!” Think about think about that for just one second. How often would you think about the fact that you were in prison if you were in prison? And how often do you think that you would pray about it if you were in prison? ALL THE TIME! You would also probably be very passionate about these prayers. You would probably cry out to God all day and all night until you couldn’t do it anymore.

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3 emphasis mine)

If we are honest with ourselves, we would agree that this is the obvious response and yet it is not the easy response. So what are some practical things that you can do that may assist you in responding to persecution?

In the last post I already mentioned the Prisoner Alert Profiles. I would highly encourage you and/or your family to select at least one of the people that have a prisoner profile on Prisoner Alert and devote time each day praying for that person, that brother in Christ who is suffering as we speak. Voice of the Martyrs has many resources that I would encourage you to take advantage of. You can read weekly prayer updates here (you may also subscribe to them through email). You can also subscribe to their magazine for free here. Two more things you could do is join the One Body Facebook page as well as follow One Body on twitter.

So when we look at this persecution we are first to suffer with them because we are all one body. Second, we are to pray for those that are in prison and are mistreated in the very same way that we would if we were in prison and mistreated. Our third and final response to persecution and suffering is perhaps the most perplexing, the most confusing, and maybe the most shocking. Next time we will discover how and why we are to rejoice through this persecution.

Testifying to the gospel of the grace of God,
Robbie
Acts 20:24

SERIES NAVIGATION
Introduction
Part 1 | Suffer
Part 2 | Pray
Part 3 | Rejoice