Maldives
MALL-deevz

    
 

Official Name: Maldives (Republic of the Maldives) Population: 349,100 Capital City: Mal Currency: Rufiyaa Languages: Maldivian Dhivehi, English Religions: Sunni Muslim Prayer Requests Pray for the few indigenous Christians to have courage amidst the secrecy. Many young people seek education outside the islands. Pray that they would have the opportunity to hear the gospel. Maldivian society contends with huge social problems of drug and alcohol abuse, marriage breakdown and child abuse. Pray that people will discover God's forgiveness.

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How to Pray for the Persecuted Church Around the World

Pray that:

1. God would give them the right words and they would fearlessly make Christ known.

• Ephesians 6:19-20 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

• Colossians 4:2-4 Devote yourselves to prayer...praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

 2. They will see God's grace as sufficient and God's power perfected in their weakness.

• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 3. They would love Christ's appearing all the more.

• 2 Timothy 4:5-8 "I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."

 4. They will rejoice in sharing the sufferings of Jesus so that they will rejoice even more when Christ is revealed.

• Hebrews 10:34 "...accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.”

 5. They will endure.

• 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

 6. They will love Christ far more than life itself.

• Revelation 12:10-11 "they overcame (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death."

• Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

• Acts 20:24 "I (Paul) do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course."

 7. They will love their enemies.

• Luke 6:27-28 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." 

8. They not give into temptation.

• 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

9. They will rejoice that they are considered worthy to suffer for His name.

• Acts 5:41 "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name."

 10. They will remember they were made for such persecution.

• Philippians 1:29 "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."

 11. They will live the joy of the Lord before their persecutors.

• Acts 16:25 "But about midnight Paul and Silas (in jail) were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."

• Philippians 1:28 "in no way alarmed by your opponents -- which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God."

 12. They will remember their unbelievable future glory.

• Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

 13. They would learn to more completely trust in God.

• 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead."

 14. They would rejoice that they bear in their bodies the “brand marks of Christ.”

• Galatians 6:17 "From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus."

 15. For their physical protection and deliverance.

• Matthew 26:39 "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
• Acts 12:5 "So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God."
• Philemon 22 "I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you (from jail)"
• Romans 15:30-31 "Now I urge you, brethren... to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea".