Morning by Morning, August 18 - Prayer for the Persecuted in Pakistan and Around the World Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Rock and my Salvation, my God in whom I trust -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... As I join in prayer with all our brothers and sisters in Pakistan and in many other nations around our world, enduring intense persecution and violence for their faith in You, I remember this prayer of faith and hope expressed by David in one of his Psalms of trust in Your security and ultimate victory: Psalm 62: Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly. Selah My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor. Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them. God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work. (Psalm 62:1-12). Yes, Lord. We look to You and not our oppressors. We look to You and not to the destruction and violence they have done and are doing. We express our anger, our grief, our rage over injustice and prejudice, over incomprehensible violence and destruction to You, releasing it to You so that it does not consume us within. And as we release it all to You instead of letting it destroy us, we remember and embrace Your Words of perspective that bring a peace in the fullness of time that we can’t comprehend in our own minds and hearts apart from You: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (John 15:18-21). “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). By the grace of God, we take heart in You. By the grace of God who is always with us (Matthew 28:20), who never leaves us nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5), who forever promises us He is fighting for us in ways we don’t see and with us in ways we’re not always aware, we remember the Promise of Your Word: Isaiah 43: But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I AM with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth-- Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him. (Isaiah 43:1-7) By the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love, we join all our brothers and sisters around the world to put our trust in You alone -- the God of our salvation, the God is with us now and who sets all things right in the fullness of time. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you join with me in prayer for all our brothers and sisters in Pakistan and around the world who are suffering persecution for the sake of Christ, that they may stand firm in their salvation and overcome all that comes against them, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Mailing Address: 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
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