A PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

God who heard the cries of slaves in Egypt (Exodus 3:7) and shook a prison until Paul and Silas walked free (Acts 16:25–26) — hear your church tonight, gathered in basements and back rooms, worshipping in whispers because singing is dangerous. Remember those in prison as though I were in prison with them (Hebrews 13:3); give me a heart that aches at that distance. Comfort the families whose pastor did not come home. Strengthen the hands that hide Bibles and the lips that share Christ at cost. Hear the souls under the altar who cry, How long? (Revelation 6:9–11); ease the suffering of any believer you can, and where suffering remains, supply grace that runs deeper. Hasten the day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses Christ as Lord (Philippians 2:10–11), and the courtrooms of earth give way to the courts of heaven. Amen.