{"id":26126,"date":"2012-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/prayer\/persecuted-christians-at-christmas-445\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:56:31","slug":"persecuted-christians-at-christmas-445","status":"publish","type":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/prayer\/persecuted-christians-at-christmas-445\/","title":{"rendered":"Persecuted Christians at Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>This Christmas, please take time to remember vulnerable Christian communities who face the threat of attack, violence, imprisonment or isolation at this time of year.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.&#8221; (John 1:5). Father, help us shine the light of truth and justice into dark places. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>Light of the World, we pray for those around the world living through the darkness of oppression, injustice and persecution. Be their Light, now and always.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Give thanks for the birth of Jesus. Pray for those who meet together today to celebrate God&#8217;s amazing gift. Pray for protection and peace this Christmas.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Remember those around the world unable to celebrate Christmas openly for fear of persecution. Cry freedom for North Korea, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran and Eritrea.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>The angels proclaimed &#8220;Do not be afraid.&#8221; Pray for boldness and courage for Christians around the world, as they respond to the Good News.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>As we think of Jesus&#8217; earthly family, pray today for Christian families throughout the world torn apart by persecution, that they may know God&#8217;s comfort.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Pray for peace in the countries of the world experiencing war and conflict. Pray especially for countries in the Middle East<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Looking back over 2012 and into 2013, thank God for His faithfulness; for past successes and encouragements, and commit to Him CSW&#8217;s future work..<\/li>\n\n\n<li>&#8230;express a prayer for the establishment of an unending and universal peace, so that the will of the Father be done on earth as it is in heaven.&#8221; \u2013 Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, following his release from prison.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Christmas, please take time to remember vulnerable Christian communities who face the threat of attack, violence, imprisonment or isolation at this time of year.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"template":"","regions":[],"class_list":["post-26126","prayer","type-prayer","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/prayer"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40796,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26126\/revisions\/40796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=26126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}