Last night I was reading a brand new book I received on the Old Testament, and as I was reading through the first chapter the author shared a few profound statements from people who have a very high opinion of the bible. Since the Old Testament reveals the promise of God to his people, and the New Testament reveals that He has kept His promises through the person of Jesus Christ, I think when we consider praying for the persecuted - to the God who hears all of our prayers - we must also consider the book we receive these truths from and remember it can be trusted.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"(Romans 1:16)

Not too long ago I was sitting in church and thinking about the persecuted church. As I thought about Christian persecution I began to wonder what was truly worse - persecution or apathy? I have read stories of persecuted believers who are praying for American Christians because they see how much we have here and realize that it must be hard to walk out our faith in such a land where we literally have everything. On the other hand, as a Western Christian it is very easy to see how a brother in a foreign land who is being threatened with death, imprisonment or physical harm may be worse. The thing we have in common is the need for prayer. With that in mind, would you join me in praying for the following things this week? This is from The Voice of the Martyrs Canada office.

The following prayer request is so important for all of us to pray for. Can you imagine if you were thrown in prison for "Actively witnessing about Christ" and while you're in prison, away from your baby - your baby dies?

How is your prayer life? Are you passionate or apathetic? Well, I hope that if you love the Lord and are praying often for the persecuted church that the following prayer requests from this weeks prayer alerts motivate you to go boldly to the throne of grace.

The following prayer request is from The Voice of the Martyr's Canada weekly prayer alert. This particular alert is different in that it focuses on a bill in Alberta that has do to with same sex marriage, and the right to deny same sex marriage to those who want it. This bill would also protect students and teachers who believe that homosexuality and gay marriage is wrong. Please read about the situation and join me in praying that this bill will pass, after it's finished being held up by the liberals who support it.

In this weeks Prayer Alert from The Voice of the Martyr's Canada office we read about how the police are charging Christians in India. Please read the following and then join me in praying for all of those involved in this situation.

Tomorrow, May 4th, is the National Day of Prayer, and so I thought I would share with you a number of prayer requests we have for the persecuted church. Please take some time tomorrow and daily to remember these precious ones in your thoughts, prayers and all the activities you do with other Christians. Talk about these requests and ask others to pray with you.

This weeks prayer requests from Voice of the Martyr's USA alert follow.

Another prayer request VOM Canada has in this weeks alert is one that concerns Christian prisoners,in Pakistan, who are being tortured for holding a bible study!