Each Friday I pray and fast for nations where Christians suffer the worst persecution around the world. This week I am praying and fasting for:
Nigeria. 175 million people with 89 million Christians.
Levels of violence against Christians in 2013 remained extremely high, with hundreds of cases of physical aggression, the destruction of nearly 300 churches and the death of 612 Nigerian Christians. Pentecostal leader, Rev. Faye Pama Musa, was shot dead by two suspected Boko Haram members. However, violence from this Islamic terrorist group is not the only form of persecution. Local government and social groups leave hardly any space for Christians to live their own lives; many Christian villages are denied basic facilities, such as wells and schools. (Open Doors, World Watch List)
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is divided between a Christian culture in the south and a radical Islamic culture in the north that is characterized by massive riots, bombings and a plan to create an Islamic state. Since 1999, when military rule ended and one-third of Nigeria’s states implemented Islamic law, sectarian violence has resulted in more than 14,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Greed and corruption consume all levels of government in this oil-rich nation, which faces the growing challenge of division along religious and ethnic lines…In 2009 the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, an al-Qaida ally, vowed to rid the north of all non-Muslim influence, including Christians. Since then, more than 3,000 people have been killed…In 2012, Nigerian authorities killed hundreds of suspected Boko Haram members and arrested hundreds more. Most of those detained were held incommunicado without charge or trial, and many died in detention after being tortured. These abuses have only fueled Boko Haram’s campaign of violence. (The Voice of the Martyrs)
Today, I prayed:
Lord, I pray for Nigerian believers to rejoice in hope, to be patient in their tribulations, to be constant in prayer, to bless those who persecute them, to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. (Based on Romans 12: 12, 14, 21)
Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.
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Larry Who 
I just heard that four Christian children were beheaded in Iraq all under age 15. It’s because the children would not renounce Jesus and convert to Islam. It’s on Fox News. Larry, I am asking God, “What can we do?” http://video.foxnews.com/v/3938474276001/report-isis-beheads-4-christian-children/?playlist_id=922779230001#sp=show-clips
Lift the Cross of Jesus,
Thanks for the heads-up. I appreciate that.
“What can we do?”
As tragic as it sounds, Revelation 6:9-11 states that martyrs will continue to be killed until their number is completed. Revelation 12:11 states: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
So, yes, let us pray for the prisoners, but at the same time, we need to understand that these four martyrs are given great honor in heaven right now.
Thank you, Mr. Larry , for sharing with us about Nigeria and the persecution there. Praying with you and so thankful that He hears our prayers and answers. I prayed from Genesis chapter 20 , where Abraham said he thought surely the fear of God was not in this place. Praying for the fear of God to be in Nigeria.
God bless you and yours!
Debbie,
Thanks. I also pray with you for the fear of God to be on the nation of Nigeria. God bless you and your family.