Recently, God has been waking me up at all hours of the night and prompting me to pray for Christians who are being persecuted and killed for their faith. I asked the Lord, “How do I pray effectively and fervently for them?” God is so good! He gave me some ideas and laid it on my heart to share them with you. I hope this excites and inspires you as it has me. What an immeasurable opportunity we have to engage in meaningful warfare with our inner ring of Christ-followers!
According to the most trusted global watchdogs, more than 380 million Christians live under high or extreme levels of persecution for their faith in Jesus. In the past year alone, at least 4,400–5,000 believers were murdered. Over 14,000 churches and Christian properties were attacked or destroyed. In Nigeria—ground zero for anti-Christian violence—more than 52,000 believers have been killed since 2009, and tens of thousands more have been abducted or driven from their homes. In North Korea, Iran, China, India, and Pakistan, countless Christians remain imprisoned, tortured, starved, or held in forced-labor camps. And these numbers represent only the cases researchers can verify—meaning the true numbers are even higher.
When we read these reports, it should move us to take desperate measures because these persecuted believers are not distant strangers—they are our family. Jesus said that those who do the will of His Father are our true brothers and sisters. If we are born again, the Christians being beaten, hunted, jailed, and martyred are more our flesh and blood than earthly relatives who are not born again. Their suffering is part of the same body to which we belong. They may be on the front line of suffering, but we serve as the supply chain to support them in their suffering.
Their tears should become our tears; their suffering—ours.
One of the great mysteries of intercessory prayer is that when we stand in prayer for persecuted believers, we actually enter into their battle. The Bible commands us to “remember the prisoners as if chained with them” (Hebrews 13:3). In doing so we step into the fellowship of their suffering. Their burdens become our burdens. Their endurance becomes our shared responsibility. Their witness becomes our shared mission. And when we pray for them with this kind of shared identification, we not only strengthen their faith, but we also participate in the eternal reward God has promised to those who are faithful unto death.
Faithful prayer for our suffering spiritual family must become our passion. If my grandchild were kidnapped by traffickers, is there anything I wouldn’t do for her? Would I pray casually or out of duty? Effective intercessory prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being tortured and martyred must be motivated by love. You may say, “How do I love someone I’ve never met?” Fair question. This love that manifests itself in passionate prayer MUST come from GOD.
How does this happen?
When we grow in the mind of Christ and the attitudes of Christ—He gives us the fruit of His Spirit—we become more enlightened to His perspective. But our enemies want us to stay asleep on the battlefield. I struggle just as much as you do. But I can tell you that I never feel more alive than when God is on the throne in ALL areas of my life. That’s when He awakens me at 2:00 a.m. and says, “Get up, my prayer warrior; it’s time for battle.” Ah, and the first time He did this…I asked “How, God? How do I pray passionately for people I do not know?”
Well, God does not leave us guessing about how to pray for our persecuted spiritual family. The Bible gives us the pattern, the priorities, and the very words for interceding for martyrs and suffering Christians. Below are a few key passages to guide our prayers. I’ve added my own prayer after each verse. Allow God’s Spirit to intercede and He will do the same for you!
Hebrews 13:3: “Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated as being yourselves in the body.”
Lord, I am praying in relative comfort, yet my soul hurts for my spiritual family languishing in unspeakable suffering. May I feel their pain in the depths of my heart. Lord, increase my empathy so I may enter into their suffering as if it were me or my earthly family. Lord, help me to stand faithful as a daily prayer warrior for my suffering spiritual family. Lord, if they are isolated and feel alone—fill them with a deep sense of Your presence. If they are weak—fill them with Your strength. If they are in pain, ease their suffering. Continually guide my prayers so I may enter into their suffering and become as they are—a warrior—supplying prayer cover for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:1-2: “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, just as it is with you; and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.”
Lord, we pray Your will—not ours—for our suffering family. Lord, our greatest desire is that You are glorified. We pray You will have mercy and miraculously deliver them. Lord, we long for their comfort and rest. We long for them to have peace. Please increase their measure of supernatural faith to stand strong and endure like Stephen. Strengthen them to forgive their torturers, trust Your power, endure, and remain faithful to the end.
Philippians 1:20: “According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”
O Lord, give my suffering family boldness so that You are magnified in every thought, word, and deed. Lord, may they see their suffering as an eternal and glorious opportunity. Oh Lord, turn my feeling of great helplessness into fervent prayer for my suffering family in Christ. Guide my prayers by Your Spirit to be effective. Even now as I pray, may You multiply their hope and expectation in You!
Acts 4:29-31: “And now, Lord, behold their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
Lord, we pray for boldness for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Help them share the Gospel even under threat. Intercede with Your sovereign hand and fill them with the power of Your Spirit. Shake the place where they are suffering! May evil be turned upon itself! Give them the eyes of Your Spirit so they can see Spiritual warfare and know the enemy can’t take away their most precious gift—eternal life. Help them to see their captors as You do. Give them Your supernatural love, wisdom, and courage so even their enemies see Your glory and come to know You!
Revelation 2:10: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Lord, remind my suffering family of this promise. Etch it deeply into their minds. Remind them that their suffering for You is NEVER wasted. Remind them that each wound borne for You produces a beautiful scar with Your name written in it for all eternity. Remind them they belong to the KING of KINGS, and no earthly enemy will withstand You. O Lord, enter into their suffering and give them a strong sense that “greater is He who is in me than he that is in the world.” Show them the splendor of that eternal crown of life which is Your special reward for unwavering devotion amid adversity.
My friend, today is the day of salvation. Your life is of eternal importance. Your prayers matter. Every soul matters. We have victory. We are brothers and sisters in arms. We are all under the enemy’s fire. We ALL need each other’s prayer cover!
Sources: Open Doors, World Watch List 2025 (Open Doors International), reporting more than 380 million Christians living under high levels of persecution and at least 4,476 believers killed for faith-related reasons in the most recent reporting period; UK Parliament, House of Commons Library, Religious Persecution and the World Watch List (2024), confirming 365 million persecuted Christians globally and 4,998 documented killings; Global Christian Relief, “7 Shocking Statistics on Christian Persecution” (2025), estimating more than 340 million believers under severe pressure; Aid to the Church in Need, Persecuted and Forgotten? (ACN International), documenting widespread imprisonment, torture, and disappearance of Christians in countries such as North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, China, Pakistan, and India; International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), Nigeria: The Deadliest Place for Christians (2009–2023), reporting over 52,000 Nigerian Christians killed, more than 18,500 abducted, and over 20,000 churches and schools attacked; Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Status of Global Christianity, estimating over 70 million Christian martyrs historically, with some 21st-century periods exceeding 100,000 deaths per year.
All organizations note these figures represent conservative minimums due to underreporting, restricted access, and verification challenges in closed or hostile nations.
