The world has watched in horror as Afghanistan, a nation in which we have invested for decades, has toppled in a matter of days. Over here in the West, school is just starting. The COVID-19 Facebook debates are making me want to give up social media altogether, and now we have this new atrocity unfolding before our eyes.
For many of us, it feels like too much. There is too much going on in the world. Many of us just have no words. We want to hide. What can we do? We’re just one person.
And yet we aren’t. We are the body of Christ. When one part suffers, we all suffer. And friends, our brothers and sisters in the underground church are suffering right now. And unlike times in the past, we have contact with the people on the ground from a variety of venues. People are connected through missionaries, organizations, and yes, even social media! (Praise God for technology when used well!) Here is just one of the many posts I saw online this week (I saw so many, but this one spoke to me the most):
If you feel overwhelmed and unsure how to pray, let us come alongside together. I saw a ministry (I can’t remember which one) that was encouraging people to set a phone timer for 7 p.m. to pray. In the spirit of solidarity, let’s join this ministry (whoever they might be) and do the same. I think this is awesome for two reasons: 1) It’s just one more way to be in solidarity with the body of Christ, and 2) Seven p.m. is a time when your children are often at home. What better way to set an example than to have all of you set your phone for 7 and pray for Afghanistan for the next week? And if you’re not sure what to pray for, here are some ideas, seven things you can pray at seven.If you feel overwhelmed and unsure how to pray, let us come alongside together. #prayersforafghanistan Click To Tweet
1. For the believers who have gone into hiding in caves, that the Lord would supernaturally provide for their needs. He’s done it before, He can do it again. And for those who might be able to get out to have the funds, transportation, and speedy visas to do so.
2. Special protection over women and girls. (The Taliban is going door to door taking girls over the age of 12 a child brides or sex slaves. Any woman educated beyond grade school is also being targeted to be killed.)
3. For a supernatural feeling of peace to come over those who will be killed. They are about to meet the God for whom they have risked everything. Lord, please make those last few moments ones of joy and not fear.
4. That nothing the Taliban does could be hidden. That it would be a spectacle to the whole world, reminding us what true evil looks like.
5. For God to supernaturally move in key Taliban leaders by giving them dreams about Jesus. (Islam places a large emphasis on divine revelation via dreams.)
6. That those who have been our allies would get flown to safety. And if they are not able to, that they would come into contact with people from the underground church who can share the message of Jesus before the end.
7. That the Lord would continue teaching us how to pray — for our country, for the world, against ideologies which destroy, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms… all of it. Praying doesn’t always come easily. It is a discipline that must be fostered. Pray that the Lord would turn your family into a family of pray-ers.
Oh, Lord. You call me to pray without ceasing and to love my neighbor, but it feels like too much. Lord, I pray that you would move my family and me to pray — that we would be known within our home as a family who takes prayer seriously. God, we see the testimony above from members of the underground church who were overcome with boldness like Stephen at the moment of their execution. We may not be free of danger, but we can be free of fear because You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Lord, we rejoice that our brothers and sisters stared death in the face and all they saw was their love for You. That is how I would want to go Lord, so I pray for all the believers in Afghanistan that they would be filled to the brink with Your love, Your peace, Your courage, and faith. We mourn the lives and the testimonies that we are losing today, but we rejoice that their suffering will be over. And yet, Lord, we don’t want to forget that you can intervene at any moment. You struck the men at Lot’s door blind (Genesis 19:11). You struck the Philistines with confusion to the point where they destroyed themselves (1 Samuel 14:20) We know that You are in control of all things, and we pray for miraculous protection for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. But even if you do not, we pray that they would be emboldened to never bow their knee to another. That they would proudly proclaim, as the children did in the story above, “We will not deny Jesus.”
Hillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder of Mama Bear Apologetics. She is the chief author and editor of Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies and Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design. Hillary has her masters in Biology and has been married to her husband, Dr. John D. Ferrer, for 15 years. Don’t let her cook for you. She’ll burn your house straight to the ground.
