Our IPC Colleague and Exec Member, Onassis Jeevaraj has prepared an INDIA - Prayer Focus guide.  The four-page PDF booklet provides an up to date overview of some of the key issues and challenges that India is facing, along with Prayer Pointers and links to more information and resources.

Topics covered include - Elections, Persecution, Lynching, The Economy, Hindu Ideologies, Natural Disasters, Children and Women, and the Church

It will be a valuable tool for guiding individual, small group or corporate prayers.

Download the INDIA - Prayer Focus HERE

Christians around the world ought to pray for Kashmir as tensions in the region have spiked since Aug. 5, when India removed its long-established "special status," bringing the India-administered areas of Kashmir into direct control of the central government.

The decision exacerbated India's already strained relationship with Pakistan and prompted Pakistan's prime minister to threaten to globalize the issue and alarmingly escalate the situation by stating that "Pakistan would keep all options on the table."

I'm calling on Indian, Pakistani and all Christians to a simple task that transcends the complexity of the issue and the emnity that has long existed between our countries because of it.

Christians ought to pray to Jesus—the "Prince of Peace" - that peace would reign in our countries and in our region as God has called each of us to "seek peace and prosperity" for our countries, according to Jeremiah 29:7. The prophet continues, "Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

And I'm calling them to do so intensely. Since the British partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the Kashmir region. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and military officers have died on both sides of the border in armed conflicts and episodes of inter-communal violence. The last thing the region needs is another war, especially when both nations have nuclear weapons.

All of this has been especially complicated in recent years by cross-border terrorism as Pakistan's prime minister himself recently recognized that 30,000-40,000 terrorists operate on Pakistani soil.

Putting it all together, in just over 25 years over 45,000 people in Jammu & Kashmir have died in cross-border militant encounters between the countries and from terrorist attacks originating in Pakistan. When India cites national security concerns for its decisions in Kashmir, it's not without cause.

Yet, the status-quo situation in Kashmir has long been unsustainable, and by some act of divine providence maybe this disruption could result in a solution as the Indian government and the people of India embrace Kashmiris as fellow citizens of India.

That, however, might require a divine miracle, a miracle entirely unlikely if God's people do not pray.

And as they pray for a peaceful and permanent resolution to this intractable conflict, they should keep in mind that the security situation remains tense as curfews are still imposed, as new questions have arisen about the citizenship rights of some people living in Kashmir, and as India's national leadership and judiciary deal and work through the implications of the decision made by the government.

They should also pray for Christians, Hindus, Muslims and others whose religious freedom has sometimes been caught up in these political conflicts.

Ultimately, Christians should pray that no one will give license to hate in any form, always recognizing the inherent dignity in every human being and their God-given freedom of conscience.

As a Christian leader, I'm grateful for the generosity and kindness shown by our Christian friends around the world to commit our strong, yet also delicate, region to the hand of almighty God.

May we, as the apostle Paul prayed, have the privilege to "lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way" (1 Tim. 2:2b, ESV).

Joseph

Lebanon's name was mentioned 71 times in the Old Testament. Its regions are referred to several times in the New Testament. The Old Testament is full of praise for Lebanon's natural beauty and resources and God's love for men and women is celebrated.

Lebanon's role in the history of salvation becomes even more evident in the writings of New Testament authors. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, visited the Phoenician cities along Lebanon's coast, preached to the people there and healed the sick.

God loves His people and He wants them to be saved. We had a burden for many years to pray continually for Lebanon, we want to see Lebanon transformed to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.

In Psalm 24:1-2 we read “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas, and established it on the waters.”

CHURCH:

Pray: for unity between all church denominations in Lebanon (Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelica, etc...) Let every church become a house of prayer leading people to know about Jesus as the only true saviour. Pray for all church leaders, bishops, archbishops, all clergy and lay ministers.

Pray: for the church in Lebanon that Jesus established to be strong. Jesus’ church has stood the test of time. It cannot be stopped by force, political pressure, or even political correctness. Jesus will continue to build His church until He returns in glory to redeem His bride, and absolutely nothing or no one can stand in His way.

Pray: that the Lord God gives His church the spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowledge according to the riches of His glory, for His faithful to be strengthened with might by His Spirit that Christ may dwell in the hearts of His Lebanese people for ever; and that they are rooted and grounded in love. May they be able to comprehend and to know the love of Christ, which passes all knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Lilian Schmid - Coordinator                                              

Prayer Strategy for the Spheres of Influence                             
www.prayerstrategy.org

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.   (2 Kings 6:15-18 NIV)

Most of us have actually never seen angels, but the Bible tells us they are around us and are watching over us. They are ready to act when we call upon the Lord with all our hearts in challenging or dangerous situations.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to hear many stories of those who have had angelic encounters. One such opportunity was just a few weeks ago when I was sitting in a restaurant waiting for my car to have its oil changed. An older couple, Mark and Joy, sat down nearby to have their breakfast. After exchanging greetings, we began to talk about the things of the Lord as they saw I was studying my Bible. Joy then told me one of the most amazing stories of the Lord’s deliverance that I have ever heard.

In 1980, as a 23 year-old mother, she was invited to visit what she thought was a friend of her family in Oklahoma. This man who was an ex-convict had at one time worked for her father. She brought her young children, the older of which was about 18 months, with her.

While staying with this man and one of his comrades, she was drugged by them. That night, she and her children were taken by them to a coven of 7-8 witches, all clothed in black robes, that had prepared a circle and altar to sacrifice her children to Satan, counting on her to be a consenting witness. Although she was weakened from the drugs she was given, she suddenly realized what was about to happen. With all her heart and in utter desperation, she cried out to God with the words, “Oh God!”

At that moment, a bright and shining being about 20 feet tall came down in the midst of the darkness. She could not see his face, but he was a powerful, glowing giant, emitting white light like a massive halogen lamp. When the Satanists saw him, they ran for their lives in sheer terror.

Joy told me that this story was kept buried in her heart for many years until she was listening to a particularly dull sermon in church one day. The pastor read the above story of Elisha praying for his servant’s eyes to be opened to the fact that there were supernatural agents all about them in spite of the dangerous situation of being surrounded by an enemy army. Suddenly, something moved through her “like a tornado”, freeing her from this awful memory from her young motherhood so that she could come to grips with what had happened and to rejoice in how God had used this experience for good in her life. Now, she counts on His angels to protect her and her family as in the recent case of a stolen truck that was returned to her and her husband within three days as they trusted the Lord.

Another story of angelic deliverance comes from George, a close friend and prayer colleague of mine who worked as a missionary in South Asia for many years and was often in grave danger at the hands of Islamic extremists who wanted to harm or kill him numerous times.  They admitted to him: “We have tried to kill you again and again, your new converts and burn your center, but we can’t get to any of you, because there are huge angels or guards around you and your people and center, with huge swords in their hands and at night huge torches (lights).” Each time they used the word “huge.”  George went on to say: “This came after a time when I was losing leader after leader, three of whom I had raised up to take my place.  I had a word given to me two unrelated times.  “You are alive today because people are praying for you, but you will lose your workers if you do not get a blanket of prayer over them.”  I went back and said to our workers (evangelists and teachers) we are going to change our ministry. We will pray first and seek God’s will, then we will act…The next time I was in America, I thanked churches for their support, and I shared some hair raising stories, and said if you’re not going to pray for us please drop our support, prayer is what keep us alive and accomplishes God’s purposes. We never had any of our workers die after that.”

Others I have met in the course of my travels have told me similar accounts. Prayer enables us to access the Lord’s mighty deliverances, often mediated by angels either visible or invisible to our eyes. Personally, along with team members, I have been in many very dangerous situations in the midst of civil wars and other unstable conditions while facilitating prayer initiatives with national Christian leaders. Our teams have had to go through snipers, genocidal killers, suicide bombers, and the like numerous times. As we pray and trust the Lord along with many supporting intercessors, we know that He has unseen agents standing guard around us all the time. I could tell story after story of how He has done this.

Stories of this kind bring glory to the Lord and should be shared to encourage His people, especially the younger generation, so we all will be willing to take risks for the Lord and His cause in the various, unique missions to which He has called us.

John Robb, IPC Chairman

If you have a story of this kind you would like to share, please write it up an send it to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.