{"id":686,"date":"2019-01-20T23:20:43","date_gmt":"2019-01-20T23:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glitterandgraceteens.com\/?p=686"},"modified":"2019-01-20T23:20:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T23:20:48","slug":"step-up-your-prayer-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/?p=686","title":{"rendered":"Step up your prayer life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cContinue to remember those in prison as if you\nwere together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you\nyourselves were suffering.\u201d Hebrews 13:3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my sisters in Christ,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are united as a\nfamily worldwide. For every believer, you are my sister, my friend. As your\nfamily member, I will pray for you, be there for you, and do all that I can to insure\nyou know that you are not alone. You are my family, a child of our Heavenly\nFather, together we can make a difference. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are always in my prayers!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your sister in Christ, Kayla Rampey<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible tells us in Hebrews\n13:3 to \u201cremember those in prison as if\nyou were together with them, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were\nsuffering.\u201d <\/em>Imagine if your biological brother, sister, mother, or father was\nimprisoned for believing in Jesus Christ. How would you feel if your family\nmember was taken from their home, beaten, mistreated, or even killed for their\nbeliefs? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My heart breaks thinking of\nhow I would feel or what I would do if my family member was in that sort of\nsituation. I can\u2019t imagine what it would be like to hear that my sister, my\nbest friend, was thrown in prison and beaten. I would automatically want to find\na way to help her and get her home safely as soon as possible. But what if her\nlife was meant to be an example to glorify God? What if her faith during\npersecution would cause thousands of people to come to know Christ? Would I\neven understand the depths of her love for Christ? Would my faith override my\nfears?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, I can\u2019t imagine\ntrue persecution, but people all over the world are dealing with situations\njust like this every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog is not meant to\nscare you or cause you to worry about things you can\u2019t control; instead, it is\nmeant to inspire you and encourage you to pray for your spiritual brothers and\nsisters in Christ that are suffering all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My small group started a new\nstudy Sunday called \u201cI am n.\u201d I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen the symbol, but do you\nreally know what it means? In the Islamic culture, all Christian homes, businesses,\nand churches are marked with a symbol \u201cn\u201d showing others that the people inside\nproclaim Jesus Christ. In a culture where Christians are not welcome, this\ncauses mass destruction, hate crimes, and chaos that is hard for us to even\nimagine. Christians are forced to escape with only their shirts on their backs\nbecause their businesses suffer for their beliefs and they are not welcome in\ntheir communities. Families are torn apart, taken from their homes, and beaten\nfor their beliefs. Without warning Christians can be imprisoned and harmed without\nreason. Pastors and believers have lost their lives just because they refuse to\ndenounce Jesus Christ as their savior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy for Christians\nlike you and I to get disconnected with our persecuted family members halfway\naround the world. For us, we have it made. We can preach the gospel almost\nanywhere without worrying about true persecution. The biggest worry we have\nwhen it comes to sharing the gospel is, \u201cwhat if people make fun of me? What if\nthey won\u2019t listen?\u201d Whereas, in other countries across the world, there are Christians\nfearing for their lives just because they own a Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t express to you how\nimportant it is for you to pray for your extended family members. I will admit\nthat there have been times (way too often) where I pray for myself, my close\nfamily, my food on my own table, and maybe a few friends that I know are\nstruggling, but I forget about or overlook the ones that need prayer the most \u2013\nmy persecuted family members. There are days that my prayer life is nowhere\nnear what it needs to be. When life gets busy it seems like my prayers get\nshorter and shorter, when they really need to get longer to help me grow closer\nto my Heavenly Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a sense of urgency\nor a reminder of the sacrifices some of our brothers and sisters are making, it\u2019s\nhard for us to understand true faith.  We\noften forget about the people that are not in our direct sight daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are you forgetting about\ntoday? Have you forgotten the ones that need prayer the most? When was the last\ntime you prayed for your brothers and sisters in Christ that you don\u2019t even\nknow? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you think of your \u201cglobal\u201d\nfamily in Christ, remember to pray for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n