"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations." (Ps 22:27-28)
Our God is "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords". He is sovereign over all the nations, even the most imposing and fearsome of human rulers. Empires and civilisations come and go, but God remains the same yesterday, today and forever. Praise God for His unchanging power and might! Thank God that He is a God who loves the nations and desires for all to worship Him!
Pray for Colombia
Colombia seems to be a Christian nation, with 94% of the total population professing Christianity to be their faith. Evangelicals number about 7% of the population, and many Protestants were raised in a Roman Catholic background.
Pray for the church in Colombia to hold out the gospel of grace to a people used to thinking of salvation by works-righteousness. Pray for Colombians who "are now discovering the joy of a direct relationship with God (without intermediary priests or patron saints)", that their faith will grow and increase, and draw others to Christ.
Pray for Japan
Unlike their neighbours, South Korea, Japan remains a nation highly unreached by the gospel. Buddhism is the largest religion, with 68% of the population professing faith in it. The population of Christians number only 2.2% and the population of evangelicals stand at an even smaller number, at 0.5%.
Pray for the missionaries and churches in Japan, that they will continue to persevere in the faith and continue to faithfully preach the gospel to a nation that desperately needs to know God's love and grace in Jesus. Pray for the Christians, that they will not lose heart, and continue to seek God wholeheartedly and live for Him, and in doing so, hold out the joy of following God.
Pray for Poland
88% of the country are Roman Catholics, and the number of evangelicals only number 0.3%. The number of Jehovah's Witnesses also number evangelicals 2 to 1.
Pray that the church in Poland will stand firm and follow the pattern of sound doctrine that they have been taught, and not turn to another gospel ("not that there is another one", as Paul writes so emphatically in Gal 1:7a).
Pray for Senegal
With 91% of the population professing faith in Islam, the number of Christians is a minority (4.5%) and the population of evangelicals is even smaller (0.15% out of a total population of 16 million).
Senegal comprises of many people groups with their own language, and many still do not have their own Bible translations! Pray for the translators who are working to translate the Bible for the people in their own language.
Pray for Russia
The host nation of this year's World Cup has a Christian population of about 58% but evangelicals only number 1.2%.
In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into place laws that restrict missionary activities and personal evangelism also needs to be approved by the authorities. Pray for Christians not to lose hope, and to take to heart Paul's words in Phil 1:28-30, not to be frightened in anything by their opponents but to share in the sufferings of Christ.
Pray for Egypt
87% of the population are Muslims, but the percentage of Christians is rather significant too, at 13%. Evangelicals number about 4%, with an annual growth rate of 4.6%.
Despite these statistics, recent reports indicate that Christians in Egypt are facing more persecution recently. Many Christians also face discrimination in the common, day-to-day activities of life. Thank God for the faith of many Christians who refuse to give up their faith. Pray that they will take comfort in the fact that God is with them even in their suffering, and they will to heart the words of Jesus in Rev 2:7, that "he who conquers (Jesus) will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God".