The Invite to Pray
Matthew 26:36-38
…Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with him, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and begin to be grieved and distressed. Then he said to them, ” My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death, remain here and keep watch with Me.”
In the above account Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross. He tells eight of his disciples to sit and wait while he went to pray. However, Jesus invited three of his closet disciples to come and keep watch with Him. In essence, the Son of God invited them to come near in his hour of need. His request may have been, ‘Please pray that God will strengthen me in the trial that lies before me.’
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One can only be stunned by the invitation. This is Jesus we are talking about. The One who performed miracles. The Son of God who calms the storm and raises the dead. His request was not merely to pray for him, but with him. How tragic the disciples fell asleep on their watch. We can only imagine how they grieved as they reflected on this personal invite to pray with our Lord before his arrest. Yes, there would have been a cost involved with associating with Jesus and the cross. There would have been the sacrifice of sleep. But what a blessing and high honor to pray with the Son of God as he was about to take up His cross.
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The persecuted church is very precious to Jesus as we see in Acts 9:4. Here, Jesus ask Saul of Tarsus… Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? When Saul asked, who are you Lord? Jesus responds in verse 5, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. We see that Jesus is inextricably linked to his bride who suffers persecution. Those who persecute the followers of Jesus are in essence persecuting Christ, himself.
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He continues to intercede in prayer for his persecuted bride as we read in Romans 8:34, ...Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Again in Hebrews 7:25 we read, … Therefore He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them…
Satan is our adversary who is determined to destroy us, but the intercessory ministry of Jesus continues in Heaven and for His persecuted bride. He invites us to come and intercede on their behalf, here on earth.
… With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…Ephesians 6:18
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We are not able to physically be present with our persecuted brothers and sisters in their hour of need. We cannot be there physically with them as they take up their cross. But we can be there spiritually with them in our prayers. For we are spiritually linked to our brothers and sisters in the body. For when one member of the body is suffering then we all suffer.
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Not all of us are called to go to northern Iraq or to Syria to minister to the persecuted. Nor can we go and visit brothers and sisters who are imprisoned in Eritrea or elsewhere. But we can all pray. I say again. We can all pray. The devil will try to tell us that our prayers are not effective. But James reminds us in his letter,
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… The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much… James 5:16
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Satan will scoff at our wisdom, theology, intellect and even our ministry. But the enemy fears when the weakest saint is on their knees praying. For prayer will be the ultimate weapon wielded with the Word that will bring down the enemy’s domain.
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Brothers and sisters we have a marvelous invite to come and pray with Jesus for His persecuted bride. Will you accept the invite? Will you hear the call of the Bridegroom who asks, Who will stand in the gap and lift up my persecuted church? Who will pray for my precious bride? Who will enter into my sufferings through prayer on their behalf? I ask again, brothers and sisters, will you hear the invite to come and lift up the persecuted church in your prayers? Or will you fall asleep.
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Dear saints let us hear the call to pray for the persecuted church. Let us not fall asleep. But let us stand with Jesus and pray for His precious bride. And not just pray “for” but pray “with” these precious saints. Yes there will be a cost involved. But indeed there will be a great honor and reward. The ultimate honor of having heard their Master to come and pray for His persecuted church.
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We end the year honored of pray for the persecuted on December 30th and 31st. You are invited by Jesus to come and intercede for his special persecuted bride.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Location: Call in from your own phone from any location
When: Friday, Dec. 30 thru Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016
Length of call: 24 Hours (Note: You’re not required to commit to 24 hours. Come on the call and pray as your time allows.)
Time of the Call:
9 p.m. Eastern time
8 p.m. Central time
7 p.m. Mountain time
6 p.m. Pacific time
Call number: 712.775.7035
Access code: 281207#
Brothers and sisters please come and pray, as we believe prayer works. Stay on the call 5 minutes, 5 hours, or as long as you feel led. Your prayers make a difference in the lives of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
Lord willing, I look forward to praying with you on the 24-hour call.
Your brother in Christ,
Blaine Scogin
pwprayercall@gmail.com
Serving Jesus as Prayer Director at Voice of the Persecuted and Persecution Watch.
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“Prayer is work of the most practical kind.”- Hudson Taylor