Please Pray for Zimbabwe

by Aimee Herd : Jun 26, 2008: Jonathan Lamb - Langham Preaching Program Director

"By God's mercy, Habakkuk was able to close his prophecy with a remarkable doxology, singing to the Sovereign Lord who was his strength. Please join us in praying that this will be the experience of God's people in Zimbabwe, even in the midst of uncertainty and terror."

(Zimbabwe, Africa)—With violence increasing amid an already turbulent situation in Zimbabwe, we at BCN are asking our readers to be lifting up the country in prayer. According to a BBC report, a summit of southern African countries is urging that the ensuing presidential election be put on hold, citing the escalated disturbance. (Photo: Mugabe/AFP)

A representative of Langham Partnership International/John Stott Ministries—Jonathan Lamb—has issued a prayer request which included the following report from a pastor in Zimbabwe:

"A church member has just come in and shared how she traveled to a nearby town and on the way was stopped at two police roadblocks and made to chant slogans. A young man in the church witnessed youths stopping a minibus, pulling out the driver and beating him on the street, without police interference. We have more and more people coming to the church in need of help as a result of political violence and intimidation. Reports come to our ears daily of acts of torture and oppression and violence. Abductions happen regularly, murders occur and are unreported. The list could go on and on. Churches have been stopped from distributing food; even an organization that feeds street children was told to stop operations. Food is short, unavailable in the stores. The wickedness is unbelievable, the lack of concern for struggling people is demonic, the deafness of those in power to the cries of the suffering and the commitment to self-advancement at the expense of others are hard to believe."

Says Lamb, "Understandably, the Christian community identifies with the opening questions of Habakkuk's oracle: ‘Lord, how long will I call and You will not hear? How long will I cry out and You will not save?' Our friends and colleagues in Zimbabwe ask us to join them in prayer."

Pray for the many people struggling to survive, fearful of what the future holds;
Pray for young people caught up in the violence, or those despairing of any hopeful future;
Pray for the elderly who are beaten by youths, contrary to the deepest mores of culture and African community;
Pray for grandmothers, and widows, and the vulnerable in society;
Pray for school children with studies disrupted and classes cancelled;
Pray for people in prison for their political views;
Pray for pastors to be wise and full of integrity;
Pray for police and army members to act righteously;
Pray for Zimbabwe's neighbors, and all efforts by political leaders outside of the country to mediate in the crisis;
Pray for God's righteous judgment to come, that He will defend the defenseless and father the fatherless;
Pray for the Gospel to advance through Christian communities empowered by God's grace.

"The prophet Habakkuk asked his honest questions of the Lord, but also heard the Lord announce his ‘woes' of judgment on all wicked rulers. By God's mercy, Habakkuk was able to close his prophecy with a remarkable doxology, singing to the Sovereign Lord who was his strength," continued Lamb, adding, "Please join us in praying that this will be the experience of God's people in Zimbabwe, even in the midst of uncertainty and terror."