Syria

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

This verse isn't really related to where I'm going. I just read it and liked it. My prayer guide talked about Syria this morning. Now I don't watch the news often because I hate cable news channels and the good stuff on PBS is difficult to time. However, I do know a little about what's going on over there - enough to wonder how we can spend so much attention on other things when so much is happening around the world. That's a topic for another day.

It was interesting to read this perspective. About 10% of the population is Christian, and they are not in favor of a more democratic Syria because they are afraid of it because to Islamic. Not to say that they are supporting the violence or anything like that, but they are definitely taking a more complacent route to approaching Muslims in their country. They are the minority, but unlike places like China, the fire for the Gospel just doesn't seem to be there. It's like they're Americans or something. I'm not trying to make any sort of political speculations, but I do know that we are citizens of the Kingdom if we have put our trust in Christ. No matter where we live we have certain duties as citizens. I speak as much about myself as anyone.

Lord, help us have courage to act. Let us not fear persecution. Let us be bold like Paul to share our faith where ever we go and in all moments. Let us never fear what You have told us to do because we know nothing can hurt us. They can beat us, abuse us, or kill us, but they can't take away our relationship with You which means they really can't do us no harm. So I pray for the Christians in Syria that they would follow Your will in this situation. That they would be the driving force towards justice in this land where justice seems to have been forgotten. I pray that Your servants would be peacemakers and joy-bringers. I pray the Gospel would be spoken and heard by all who live there. I pray the harvest would be ripe and the laborers many. I pray for conviction in the hearts of the leaders to do what is right and for the rest of the world as we watch and respond. I pray for wisdom and justice in the minds and hearts of all leaders involved. Most of all, I pray Your will to be done!!


Amen. Amen. Amen.