Pray for the Global Church Like You Pray for Yourself

1 Peter 5:9,

“Resist [the devil] him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

I want to share a quote from a Christian in another country, and the temptation is to think, “That’s not me. That’s an entirely different experience than anything I have known or (it would seem) will know.” On one level that’s right, but Peter tells us that the attacks from Satan in our life are the “same kinds of suffering” as that experienced throughout the world. 

Peter tells us here, “You are not alone.”

And such a word about our common life (our common sufferings and common faith) gives us hope to pray for other Christians—specifically for God’s people around the world.

At the end of September, the fourth Lausanne Congress took place in Seoul, Korea. This is the Protestant Evangelical world’s largest global gathering for missions. It is for invited guests only in order to represent the diversity of the world, and takes place around every 10-15 years.

A friend who was there passed on this quote from an Iranian pastor, a long-time church planter:

“The last time I came to Lausanne [in 2010], I was the only one attending from inside Iran. When I returned home, I was arrested and spent five years in prison because of my faith in Christ.” With a wry smile, he added, “…Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again after this conference.”

That sounds a bit more extreme than whatever we face here, in this room, today. For many Christians around the world, pressure, obstacles, and outright persecution are not just an imagined possibility—they are part of everyday life walking with Jesus. 

But this text from Peter tells us that Satan’s attacks are the “same kinds of suffering.” Whatever you are facing today that would tempt you to throw away your trust in Jesus is part of the same temptations and the same pressures that men and women are facing throughout the world. The devil asks us all, “Why not curse God and die?”

My exhortation for you this morning is that through prayer this fellowship of the saints becomes more real to us. We don’t need any more details about Iran in order to share in that fellowship. We don’t need to know every twist and turn of Muslim terrorism in Nigeria. We don’t need to know or understand the complexity of big-brother surveillance in China. It is enough to pray for Christians in other nations as you would pray for yourself: “Lord, make the gospel appear in its glory to those in pressure-filled situations. Lord, grant depth of insight to your people as they read your word. Lord, protect your people from the choking weeds of worldliness.”

Dear friends, seek fellowship with your brothers and sisters throughout the world who are experiencing the same kinds of suffering as you are, and take comfort that you are surrounded by a worldwide family.

Such an emphasis will also protect us from making too much of ourselves and of our own problems.