Persecution & Prayer Alert

We bought a PVR a couple years ago. We can watch the programs we want, when we want and interrupt them at will, not when the ads dictate. "Wait, what did he say?" No problem! We’ll just rewind.

I’d like to rewind my story for you. I decided in my early twenties that my life verse would be Philippians 3:10, which says, "I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." (NIV) I wanted to know Christ. Sure there was the part about "the fellowship of His sufferings" (KJV). I had heard Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony first-hand detailing persecution.  It was a reality I wanted to sweep into the corner of my mind along with all uncomfortable truths that rattled my paradigm.

Ah… singleness. That state of freedom that allows myself and my fellow unmarrieds to enjoy all the happiness and bliss of nieces and nephews, and then graciously hand them back to their parents when things get "stinky."

We can also enjoy tea parties with two-year-old nieces, consisting of empty cups somehow filled with "orange tea" that tastes like "watermelon," and then conveniently "have to get ready for work tomorrow" when the bedtime tears start.

Photo: Pixabay

I have three siblings, and we all get along really well. Growing up, people would often ask us, “Don’t you guys ever fight?” We were the picture perfect display of healthy, well-rounded, soft-tempered children that all parents dream of having. So many hugs, so little discipline.

Yeah, right. While it’s true that my siblings and I got along very well, we did get into arguments as all children do.

“She took my teddy!” 

“She called me a bad name!”

“He melted all my crayons on my bedside lamp’s light bulb!”

Guilt. I am convinced that one of the most powerful weapons the enemy uses against us is guilt. How many of us conform to feelings of "I should" or "I shouldn't," or perhaps "I'm not good enough"?

Question:  Is this why we serve the persecuted - out of guilt?  Do we minister or pray, only because we "should"?

Look at the gem nestled in the account of John 21:

The disciples, including a guilt-ridden Peter, had gone back to their old jobs, because their hopes and dreams of who Jesus was and would be, seemed crushed by His crucifixion. They had slipped back into living their routine, pre-Christ lives.