Sometimes, it seems there is too much to pray for, and not enough people praying. As of this writing, tremendous upheaval and civil war are occurring in at least three countries the Middle East. Governments in the West are spying on each other and bullying their own people. Other people around the world are disagreeing over their differences, while those in power persecute those with minority views or looks. How can God work with all this? Does He care about you and the people you are praying for amidst all this turmoil?

God Does Care

Scripture tells us, "This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10). His love extends not just to His people, but to all people; "God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish" (John 3:16).

God Hates Evil

Scripture makes it clear that God despises when we humans hurt one another. "The Lord hates ... haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family" (Proverbs 6:16-19). Instead, He says, "I the Lord love justice" (Isaiah 61:8).

God Wants Us to Pray

Although it might feel like we're praying against an unending tide of evil, Jesus told His followers "that they should always pray and never give up" (Luke 18:1). The Apostle Paul reminded us to "pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere" (Ephesians 6:18). We can trust that God will rule over everything -- from great events around the world, to the hearts of the people you love: "we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Prayer, Care, and Share Jesus

Expanding Your Prayer
(The “Take 5” Challenge continued from last week)

Scripture: Luke 10:2

For the past few weeks, we’ve been challenging you to choose 5 people who don’t know Jesus, whom you feel God wants you to reach out to. We call it the “Take 5” Challenge. The challenge includes PRAYING for God’s blessing on them, for them to accept Jesus as their Savior, to befriend them, and to CARE for and encourage them. (If you didn’t get a chance to read that prayer letter, and choose 5 people to pray for, you can find out more here: Take 5 Challenge

The first part of the Take Five challenge is to pray for the Lord’s blessing on the people you’re ministering to daily. Also pray that they will meet Jesus as their Savior. You can even set aside 5 minutes at the same time every day to pray about these things. You can do this while you’re getting ready in the morning, or even in your car.

If you make this part of your daily routine, you may start feeling more blessed than usual! Here are some suggestions of ways you can expand on the prayer for the people you minister to:

• In Luke 10:2, Jesus asks us to pray for workers in the harvest because the harvest is so large. Today, with over 5 billion of the 7 billion people on earth not knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, we need many workers in the harvest, so please pray for workers in the harvest in all communities on earth. This can even include prayer for people who minister on the ground and on the internet.
• In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, the Lord commands us to pray for all people including those in authority. You can pray for those in authority in your country, community, government, business, church, in media, education, law enforcement, justice and so on.
• A third suggestion may be to pray for the peace in other countries.

These are just suggestions. We encourage you to pray for anything God puts on your heart.