Pray for Greece

Week of Sept. 23-29, 2013

The Greek people and their heritage begs our respect. We have all heard ministers sharing the Word of God and say, “Now in the Greek, it means…”  I don’t know how the Gospel translates in other parts of the world but to the Western mind, the Greek language was the vehicle God used to share His truths. History shows that the Greek scholars of the Word, in the first, second and third centuries, were faithful to take the Gospel far and wide. Truly, God used the Greek language to explain to us western believers how He dealt with the Hebrew people and what Jesus taught. Although the Apostle Paul was not Greek, he had the anointing to put the Gospel into the rich and scholarly Greek language of his time.

I believe God prepared the Greek culture with their scholarly and meaningful language, to bring clarity of the Gospel to the Gentile world.

1)    Lord, I believe it was Your plan that the Greeks publish Your Word. As we pray for Greece and the Greek people, may we reach deep into God’s heart for these precious ones and show respect as He used them through history.
2)    Let us pray for the Greek people to be used greatly once again in the end time. May they see their God-given gifts as a tool to reach the world.
3)    Lord, we pray for the Greek people to come back to You. Stir up that desire to embrace the Gospel like they did in the first, second and third centuries.
4)    The Greek Orthodox Church knows this history well, how God greatly used the Greek people. May the GOC seek to translate their history into the modern world not continue to take the modern world into past history.

Acts 17:1-4 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.

IN THE NEWS: Greek Youth Unemployment Hits Record 65%
The jobless rate rose from 27 percent in April and 23.8 per cent in May last year. Young people were by far the worst affected, with unemployment among job-seekers aged 15 to 24 standing at 64.9 percent.

Greece has been depending on funds from international rescue loans since May 2010, after years of profligate spending and fiscal mismanagement left it with a massive budget deficit.

The country is currently in the sixth year of a deep recession.

5)    Let us pray for the youth of Greece. There seems to be no hope so we ask for the God of Hope to intervene.
6)    May the body of Christ in Greece catch a burden for the young adults that are suffering all around them.
7)    We pray that Christians would gain Godly strategies that will create jobs.
8)    Let us pray for the development of employment training centers in churches.

Pray for Croatia

Week of Sept. 16-22, 2013

The following allegory gives a simple but accurate picture of the state of the Church in Croatia.

The Church lives in a two story house with a basement. Most however, spend all their time in the basement. They live their lives among the furnace, the coal dust and the rodents running freely. The first floor is pleasant with nice furniture. Once or twice a week they go up to the first floor and enjoy the pleasant environment and the nice furniture. They even meet guest there and show off their nice furniture. Then the Croatian Church goes back down to the basement. It is very uncomfortable in the basement and there is much bickering and back-biting.

Now up on the second floor the Bridegroom dwells. His personal chamber is there. Sometimes when the Croatian Church is on the first floor they hear the Bridegroom calling them to come up. They want to but the furniture on the first floor is so comfortable.  They think the upper floor is just an attic, a place for old furniture.

There has been a few who braved themselves and ascended the stairs to His chamber. Some even met with the Bridegroom. They came back down to the first floor and tried to explain Him to the others but the others could not understand.

“How is the furniture up there?” they ask.

“Well, I can’t remember much about the furniture,… it seemed simple and very practical. I just enjoyed visiting with the Bridegroom so much that I hardly noticed the furniture.”

The symbolism is very clear: the Bridegroom is the Lord with the second floor being His presence, the first floor is the normal Christian life with the nice furniture being the proper order of worship and the basement is where they live out their unchanged lives.

1)      Let us pray for a move of the Holy Spirit in Croatia. Let us pray that the Bridegroom would come and woo His bride.
2)      May the eyes of the Croatian believers be opened to see His beauty and feel His gentleness. Actually Jesus desires to come down the stairs, pick up His bride and carry her to His chambers.
3)      Let us pray for the voice of the Bridegroom to be heard by His Croatian bride:
“Behold, you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You are all fair, my love,
And there is no spot in you.
You have ravished my heart
With one look of your eyes,”
(Song of Solomon 4:1,7,9)
4)      Truly the Lord’s voice is sweat and He desires to commune with His church. May the Croatian Church realize they are spotless in Jesus’ eyes. He made them clean by His sacrifice. May they surrender to their Bridegroom, letting Him take them to the second floor where they belong.

There is an important conference coming to Zagreb, Croatia on Sept. 24 – 29, 2013. Evangelist and Prophet John Mulinde from Uganda in Africa is the speaker. More information at,  http://www.worldtrumpet.com/

The call is: We would love to see many of You here in Zagreb, to praise the Lord together and draw closer to Him, becoming an Army equipped to carry the Glory of the Lord in these End times.

5)      Let us pray for this conference. May the Church in Croatia be equipped to do the work of ministry.  (Eph. 4:11-16)
6)      Let us pray for an anointing to be upon every meeting, every class and that each speaker would hear from God for the equipping of the called out ones in Croatia.
7)      May the bride follow their Bridegroom to a higher level.
8)      May these meetings overflow into evangelism like has never been seen in Croatia before.

Visit our Facebook page Bridge to the Balkans  https://www.facebook.com/EIBalkans.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.

Pray for Bulgaria

Week of Sept. 9-15, 2013

 

On September 6, Bulgaria celebrates the unification of the northern Rumelia with southern Bulgaria in the year 1885.

Bulgaria marks 128th anniversary of its Unification
06 September 2013 | 18:09 / FOCUS News Agency / Bulgaria

Sofia. The central celebrations for the 128th anniversary of Bulgaria’s Unification kick off at 8:30 p.m. local time on Friday in the southern city of Plovdiv. President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski will be there. In the morning metropolitan bishop Nikolay of Plovdiv held a public prayer. Representatives of the local authorities, MPs and citizens arrived in the church. In his speech metropolitan bishop Nikolay said that on Bulgaria’s Unification Day the politicians in power in Bulgaria were split. Hate has gripped the society and love, faith in God and values are the only counteraction, he said.
After the church service wreaths and flowers were laid to the monument to Zahari Stoyanov.

"The unification we celebrate today is a result of the nation’s own efforts and the persistency of a fair cause," Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said at the ceremony marking the 128th anniversary of Bulgaria’s Unification.
6 September 1885 is the date that tells us we should do the most important task on our own, without delays and hesitation. We should not forget that only united we can face the difficulties on our mutual path, she added.

According to her a nation celebrating its unification has strength and wisdom to respond to any attempt to divide citizens.
She also called for not forgetting our ancestors' wisdom and the lessons of history.

She thanked the representatives of patriotic organizations, military organizations, veterans, reserve officers, because, she said, "they are always on the forefront and always convey their spirits to the young." http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n314379
1) It is important to note what the Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop Nikolay said, "Hate has gripped the society and love, faith in God and values are the only counteraction". Let us pray for Bulgarians to take to heart these words of the bishop.
2) Lord, we hope for the day when Bulgarians are unified around love for one another, faith in God and walking in righteous values.
3) More than 80% of Bulgarians claim to be Orthodox, however only 1% regularly participates in the life of the church. The years of communist atheism has left Bulgarians very skeptical of Christianity. Let’s pray for steps to reverse spiritual apathy in Bulgaria.
4) Lord, we ask that You remind the Bulgarian people of the reality of eternity. May they question their future and realize their need for a God of justice.
5) May the bishop’s words be a prophetic call to trust in God not government.
6) The mayor of Sofia asked for "strength and wisdom to respond to any attempt to divide citizens." In the sphere of Bulgarian government, we pray for wisdom to rule over emotions so a united front can build confidence in the people.
7) It is estimated that there are 2% evangelicals in Bulgaria; this is higher than most Balkan countries. Let us thank the Lord for the rise of evangelicals in the past twenty years. May they be in unity and press forward to see many more saved in Bulgaria.
8) About 12% of Bulgarians are Muslim. Let us pray for missionaries to be sent to the Muslim population. (I encourage you to read a short story of Hari and his wife, Penka　Atanasovi http://blog.bibleleague.ca/tag/evangelism-bulgaria/ They are reaching Muslims in northern Bulgaria)

Thanks for praying for Bulgaria. Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.



Praying for Bosnia Herzegovina

Week of Sept. 2-8, 2013

In the News: About 200 members of the Egyptian diaspora in Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered with Bosnians in Sarajevo on Saturday for the march of support to the Egyptian people.

The march was organized to support the Egyptian people but also to express the opposition to military coup in Egypt.  

In other News: [Video] Bosnia: Jihad groups trying to "turn the hearts of Muslims and bring them to jihad in Allah’s path"

As we see from the above links, there are radical jihad sentiments in Bosnia Herzegovina. Those in support of the Egyptians are actually in support of the radical Islamic elements there. The promotional video that is being distributed among Muslim youth in Bosnia is very alarming. 1) Oh, Jesus, we pray that the veil be lifted on this false ideology of jihad. Hatred never corrected any wrongs. Help these people see there is no peace in practicing radical jihad.
2) Let us pray for division and confusion in the camp of these agitators. (Deut. 28:20-21)
3) These jihad groups seek out disenfranchised youth that have little hope in their future. Lord, send help for the youth of Bosnia Herzegovina. Awaken your church in the region to reach out and link arms with the Bosnian church to seek Your strategy for the somber state of its youth.
4) Summer is coming to an end; let us pray for the Bosnian youth that were fortunate to attend Christian Summer camps. We pray that the Word that was presented to them will grow and take deep root.
5) Lord, raise up youth workers in Bosnia, and we pray that a shield of protection guard those daily. May these youth workers be agents of hope for the youth around them. Lord, broaden their vision and give them a spirit of expectation to see many young people saved.
6) Let us pray for the strengthening of the churches. There are very few evangelical churches in Bosnia. Let us pray for a special visitation of the Holy Spirit to fall in their midst.
7) Let us pray for unity among the churches, pastors and ministries. May they gather often to strengthen one another.
8) Let us pray for more intercessors for Bosnia Herzegovina. Oh, that many would come and stand in the gap for Bosnia. Those that are broken in their spirit for Bosnia Herzegovina will be honored and given power on earth to command a blessing from heaven.

Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 38:8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed