Oct 24, 2025 Suffering With Each Other In Prayer – Words of Grace – October 24, 2025
This Sunday at Grace Community Church we will again consider the early stages of persecution against the infant church in Jerusalem. I encourage you to read Acts 5 this weekend to prepare yourself for our time together.
A common but unhelpful approach to Bible passages about persecution is to assume that because we do not suffer for speaking about Jesus to the extent that Christians in other parts of the world do, the only application to our lives is to admire the persecuted for their steadfastness. But is the purpose of the Bible to simply produce admiration in us for others? May the Holy Spirit give us greater imagination for finding our place in the body of Christ and entering the sufferings of our brothers and sisters.
When we read about the persecution of the apostles in Acts, we should remember that Christians continue to be persecuted today for professing Jesus as Lord and remaining loyal to his commands. In some places the persecution is heavy, and people’s lives are on the line. Increasingly there is pressure to remain silent about faith in Christ and not to evangelize in his name in places where overt persecution is not strong. Either way, there is and will always be places where Christians suffer for the Name.
Two Bible passages help us do more than just admire the faithfulness of the persecuted. These passages help us enter the world of the persecuted and share the suffering with them.
Speaking of the church as the body of Christ, Paul said, “If one member suffers, all suffer together, if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
Speaking of his own suffering for the sake of Christ, Paul said to the Corinthian church, “You must help us by prayer” (2 Corinthians 1:11).
There is one church, and she is being persecuted. As members of the church, we are united to one another by our union with Christ. The members of the church who live in relative peace still suffer when other members of the church are persecuted. We share in the suffering and help the sufferers when we pray for them. Our mindset should be that we are praying for each other as fellow members of the Body of Christ.
One big challenge we face in praying for people in places around the world is knowing how to pray for them. I have been helped by prayer guides. You can find a guide for praying for Christians in the 50 countries where persecution is at the highest levels here. Use this guide in your personal prayers and with others in small groups.
Let’s read Acts with a new engagement by entering the sufferings of others in prayer.
I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
-Scott