{"id":26143,"date":"2013-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-11T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/prayer\/persecutors-467\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:56:33","slug":"persecutors-467","status":"publish","type":"prayer","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/prayer\/persecutors-467\/","title":{"rendered":"Persecutors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>As well as the victims of religious persecution, let&#8217;s also remember those God loves just as much &#8211; the people who are responsible for this suffering.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s remember that God had an amazing plan for Saul, one of the worst persecutors of the early church. And although some describe it as the hardest commandment to keep, Jesus was absolutely firm on the importance of loving our enemies, and blessing those who persecute us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This week please:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>Pray for Than Shwe,the leader of the military junta in Burma,<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Pray for Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist militant group in Nigeria,<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Pray for China&#8217;s leaders,<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Meditate and pray about Matthew 5, particularly verses 43-48.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>A reflection from CSW&#8217;s Mervyn Thomas:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the last issue of Response I talked about what could be the hardest commandment in the Bible: to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). It&#8217;s one of the most difficult, but also one of the most powerful prayers we can pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to encourage you to recommit yourself to praying for the persecutors. When a CSW staff member visited Turkey in 2010, she met a lady who had just fled Iran in awful circumstances because of her faith. With painful memories still fresh in her mind, the woman gently but firmly told my colleague, &#8220;I cannot pray for those responsible.&#8221; We need to stand in that gap for them \u2013 praying for the persecutors of those whose emotional wounds are too fresh to forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can start doing that today using the persecutors&#8217; prayer. Use it in your church, prayer and Bible study group. We all need to play our part in these prayers. May God continue to bless you throughout 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mervyn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Persecutors&#8217; Prayer<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Lord when I can&#8217;t bring myself to pray for my enemies,<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Remind me of the grace you showed me.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>When I struggle to forgive those who persecute others,<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Be there to give me grace.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>As I try to follow the example of Christ in suffering,<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Show me what it means to live in your grace.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Your grace is sufficient, now and forever.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Amen<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As well as the victims of religious persecution, let&#8217;s also remember those God loves just as much &#8211; the people who are responsible for this suffering.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","regions":[],"class_list":["post-26143","prayer","type-prayer","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26143","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"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40813,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayer\/26143\/revisions\/40813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=26143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}