Sixteen years ago, a coalition of Christian organisations decided that the global Church could no longer be silent. They were appalled by the knowledge that more people had died for their Christian faith in the twentieth century than in all the previous centuries combined. They pledged to end “our own silence in the face of the suffering of all those persecuted for their religious faith” by holding a special day of prayer.

Churches from all over the world now pray together annually for the millions of fellow Christians who suffer harassment, torture, imprisonment or even death simply because of their beliefs. And sixteen years on, we’ve seen some amazing answers to prayer as a result of IDOP. This year, it’s being marked in the UK on 3 November. Join us to pray for the global Church!

This week please:

• Pray for children caught up in religious conflict; pray for their strength, protection and growth;
• Pray for those who have fled religious persecution; for refugees who have had to flee their home nation, and for internally displaced people (IDPs) who have fled inside their own borders;
• Thank God for the work of CSW in advocating for freedom of religion or belief; pray that he extends this work for his glory;
• Pray for all church leaders across the world that work in difficult circumstances; pray for their families too;
• Pray for the global Church; ask God to bring comfort to the parts of his Church facing oppression because of their faith;
• Pray for reconciliation initiatives such as interfaith dialogues between religious communities; ask God to bring his supernatural peace into these relationships;
• Take a psalm and use it to guide your prayer for those facing persecution for their faith. A good example is Psalm 23. Read each verse and use that to inspire a prayer for those facing persecution.
• Use the IDOP pack to inspire further prayer in your small group and congregation.