Displaying items by tag: Religion

8% of China’s population is Christian and Christianity is established in every province, but many do not have enough Bible knowledge. Rural areas still have a shortage of Bibles and Christian teaching. Pray for wise, godly leadership to be multiplied at every level in the Church and for Christians to be part of shaping China as the nation amasses wealth and political influence. The Church has many mature leaders, but needs more as the church grows. Pray for Christians to have integrity in a culture where corruption is a temptation. 200 years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte said, ’Let China Sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.’ This is being realised as China’s church is awakened by God’s Spirit. Pray for this to be a significant Christian movement with continuing growth. China is a significant global power, economically and militarily, pray for wise leaders to walk a path of peace.

Most Muslims fall into one of two camps - Sunni or Shia. The term Sunni means laws and comes from the word ‘sunnah,’ which means ‘way of life’. This refers to the way of life of the Prophet Mohammad. 90% of Muslims around the world are Sunni. A movement of the Gospel among Sunni Muslims could impact nearly the entire Muslim world. Today, God is doing just that. He is drawing unprecedented numbers of Sunni Muslims to Himself in every region of the world. More Muslims have turned to follow Jesus in the past fifteen years than in the previous 1,400 years combined. But there are still 1.8 billion Muslims living without a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Ramadan ends on April 21. During Ramadan, Muslims have been intentionally seeking God through prayer and fasting. Pray for an incredible number of Muslims to encounter their Saviour Jesus.

The authorities that exist are established by God (Romans 13:1). Pray for the King, Prime Minister, first ministers and all those in national and local government to have heaven’s wisdom. Pray that parliamentarians promote good and restrain evil. Marriage is a creation ordinance given by God for the good of all people. Genesis 2:24 says, ‘A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife; they will become one flesh’.’Pray that churches faithfully uphold the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexual ethics. Psalm139:14 says, ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.’ Pray that attempts to legalise euthanasia and allow abortion at any stage will fail. There is pressure to move away from God’s instructions for his world. ‘Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you.’ Pray for the UK's repentance and revival.

Humza Yousaf has a history of meeting with Hamas and has called for an arms embargo against the state of Israel. He is the first Muslim and at 37 the youngest person to hold the leadership position. But his meeting with Hamas has prompted concerns over his selection. In May 2021, when Israel retaliated to thousands of Hamas rockets he tweeted, ‘Wife in floods of tears all evening, her brother living in Gaza telling us it’s raining rockets’. Yousaf has also said, ‘People are starving and dying a slow death in the Gaza Strip.’ The Jewish Chronicle reported him having attended the high-level meeting with Hamas leader Mohammad Sawalha. The BBC has named Sawalha as having masterminded much of Hamas’ political and military strategy. Scottish parliamentary questions reveal that he attended the Holyrood meeting as a representative of Islam Expo, which was funded by a £2 million grant from Qatar.

For King Charles III’s coronation, the World Prayer Centre in Birmingham is inviting Christians from Commonwealth nations and territories to join its Coronation and Commonwealth zoom Prayer Watch on Friday 5 May, from 10am to 12 noon GMT+1, to unite, worship, pray for the coronation and bless the Commonwealth to fulfil God’s purposes. If you would like to join online via Zoom video conferencing, you will need to set up an account and download the app to your device or computer. Download here: Log into Zoom when the meeting is due to start, using these details. Topic: WPC PRAYER WATCH Join Zoom Meeting at Meeting ID: 819 5187 5317 Passcode: jesuslives. You will be admitted to a waiting room until WPC permits access. Enter with your microphone on mute. Please share this with others across the UK and Commonwealth.

Over a quarter of Anglican churches do not now hold a weekly Sunday service, according to the National Churches Trust. They also found that many churches struggle to raise funds for repairs and maintenance. Covid has had a significant impact on church attendance, which has fallen by over 20% from before the outbreak. It is not that no one wants to come to services; churches that stayed online and have not reduced their service numbers have regained 2019 attendance levels. Exhausted leaders spread across multiple congregations, tired volunteers and financial struggles were given as some of the issues facing churches post-pandemic. This relates only to the Church of England, and some of the findings are not present in the wider evangelical church. A common denominator in churches who are experiencing reduced numbers of attendees is that they are the churches who have abandoned orthodox Christian teaching.

Located on the Mediterranean Sea, Latakia is a port city of Syria. Its population of 340,000 includes a large community of Alewite people. Alewite Islam is a sect of Islam that is related to Shia. They place an emphasis on their trinity: Muhammad; his nephew and successor, Ali; and Salman al-Farisi. They believe in reincarnation and take part in a ‘mass’ involving bread and wine. They have their own religious book. Among Muslims they are regarded as heretical because of their beliefs and practices. We can pray, ‘Lord, would you use the Alawites and their idea of the trinity to show them that the Father, Son, and Spirit are the true Trinity, the Bible is the only true Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. In this important port city, use this sect of people who have been rejected to bring Your truth to that city and country.’

The Church of England’s qualified decision to bless certain same-sex relationships is harming the witness of the Church, said Californian megachurch pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren. He said he would separate from a denomination over this issue, adding, ‘I believe that gay relationships are not God’s best, and I can make a strong case for that. If we were all gay, none of us would be here - what is the purpose of homosexuality? It can’t ‘pro-create.’’ Warren supports the work of GAFCON, a conservative group of Anglican archbishops and leaders who oppose recent changes to the Church of England’s guidance on sexuality. Warren said, ‘GAFCON believes our leaders have strayed too far from Scripture, it is harming the testimony of the church.’ He added, ‘If you’re harming the testimony of the Church, then the Bible says you should separate from those kinds of Christians.’

Russia is under the microscope for atrocities committed since the start of its war with Ukraine, from the killing and torture of religious leaders to the destruction of houses of worship. One Russian official even used the term ‘desatanization’ to describe the plan to cleanse the nation of many religious groups. Muslim Tatars in Crimea are repressed by Russian authorities, and many sentenced to long prison terms for principled opposition to the occupation. Russian forces attacking Ukraine have desecrated Holocaust remembrance sites and killed Holocaust survivors. It's not just Ukraine. Since the invasion, Moscow has been tightening its grip inside Russia on religious groups. 30% of Russian Jews have fled Russia since the war began with 50,000 emigrating to Israel. In Russia's occupied territories, the Russian military has bombed churches, monasteries, kingdom halls, mosques, synagogues, cemeteries, and other religious sites, and Russian soldiers have abducted and tortured religious figures because of their leadership roles.

German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and American Cardinal Raymond Burke want the Vatican to put Germany's Roman Catholic bishops on trial for abandoning church doctrine and approving Church blessings of same-sex unions and weddings between divorced Catholics. Cardinal Mueller wants all German bishops who voted to bless same-sex unions to be held to account, tried, sentenced and then removed from their office if they are not accepting the Catholic doctrine. Cardinal Burke has publicly clashed with Pope Francis before and is seen as the leader of the church's conservative wing. He wants sanctions against the German bishops under the Code of Canon Law. British Anglican Chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth, Gavin Ashenden, said it isn’t just German Catholic bishops who are revising church doctrine; there was an issue of lack of faith across Europe. Polish and Nordic archbishops are also challenging Germany’s path. See