"Don't pray for our persecution to end. Pray that we will be obedient through our suffering."
Scripture makes the point from beginning to end: persecution is the norm for followers of the one true God. It is, quite simply, like the sun coming up in the East. Persecutors intend for persecution to punish, intimidate, and silence God’s people.
But God can use persecution in other ways. His highest purpose in persecution is to call His people closer to Himself, to refocus their attention to the suffering of their Lord. When followers of Christ suffer willingly for their Savior, it gives their faith value. That kind of suffering also increases witness.
The number one cause of persecution globally is when people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If believers and their churches simply pray to God for persecution to end, the only way for God to answer that type of prayer is to stop people from following Jesus.
Rather, we pray for persecuted believers to remain obedient through their suffering, and we seek to identify with persecuted believers by sharing our faith in whatever environment we find ourselves.
– Nik Ripken, IMB missionary emeritus
