Day 40 (April 9)

Thank the Lord!

Daily Direction

• Well, today is celebration day; the end of the fast! So, today, after 39 days of prayer and petitions before the Lord; today we are celebrating by thanking Him for all He has done. It can be overwhelming concentrating on the overwhelming issues taking place in our world today. The world is so dark, and yet the Light has dawned and Jesus is being glorified throughout the world. Many places the Church is being persecuted at alarming rates, and yet these are the same places the Gospel is advancing with overwhelming force. Today we are thanking God for all he IS doing in our world, and may our hearts of thanks drive us to ask Him for more! We celebrate on Easter/Resurrection Day/Freedom Day the victory won by the cross and the resurrection. Today we celebrate for on the cross Jesus defeated death and three days later He rose bringing new life!

Day 39 (April 8)

Pray for the end of Human Trafficking

Daily Direction

• Human trafficking, modern-day slavery, is alive and well all over the world; much to the surprise of most of the Western world. For more on the issue check out www.humantrafficking.org. Depending on the organization the statistics vary a bit, but the estimates are that there the human trafficking industry moves 1-2million people every year around the world. Of those abducted into the slave trade, more than 80% are women and girls, and an estimated 50% are minors.
• Southeast Asia is the ‘hotspot’ for the sex trafficking industry, and countries like Thailand, Bangladesh, and Cambodia traffic thousands of people every year. The United States plays a part in the industry bringing across our borders upwards of 20,000 women and children every year to be sold into the slave trade within our borders. The European Union estimates that anywhere from 200,000-500,000 women are sold into the sex slave-trade every year in many places in Europe.
• God is about freedom, and justice; and so today we are praying for the end of the modern-day slave trade. Pray that God raises up more and more people to bring light to this evil industry. Pray that people follow the call of God on their lives to fight against this injustice. Pray for freedom today for the millions of people worldwide caught up as victims in the human-trafficking trade.

Day 38 (April 7)

Pray for the Unreached People Groups

Daily Direction

• Whenever you get the chance, check out www.joshuaproject.net for statistics on the current state of The Great Commission and the task still at hand for the Church in world evangelization.
• In Genesis 12 God calls Abraham to go into the world to reach the ethne (people groups) with the blessings of God. There are currently over 16,000 people groups in the world, and of this total number there are 6,650 that are still unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After 2,000 years of Church history the task of the Church is still looming. Over 40% of the world’s population (6.64 billion people) has still yet to hear the Good News.
• Let’s pray today for the Church that all over the world the Body would rise to the occasion and the nations of the world would hear the Gospel. Pray that as the harvest is plentiful that the workers would hear and obey the call of the Lord in their lives to go into the world with the message of Jesus and his Kingdom. Our task as the Church is to reach the nations with the message of the glory of God, and as of today we are not even half-way there.

Day 37 (April 6)

Pray for Europe

Daily Direction

• Europe is home to the Vatican, it has some of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world, and yet Europe has become one of the (if not THE) most secular culture in the world. The amount of people going to Church in Europe declines every year. Pray today for Europe in general that the Gospel of Jesus would penetrate peoples’ hearts and that the Church would rise to the occasion and be the champions of the Truth amidst an oppressive secular mindset.
• Like America, Europe is experiencing an economic crisis. Much of Europe is experiencing a recession much like we are experiencing in America. Massive corporations are closing which translates into many jobs lost. Pray for the economic crisis in Europe; pray that God raises up political leaders to make wise financial decisions. Pray for the Church that in Europe’s time of crisis they would be there to be the light and bringers of hope as people are desperate and looking for answers.
• France is a perfect of example of the change in spirituality taking place in modern-day Europe. Islam is on the rise in France (there are currently more than 5 million Muslims in France) while the number of Christian pastors has been cut in half in the last 40 years. In 2005 France celebrated 100 years as a secular nation. With the separation of church and state a mandated foundation of the French state, Islam has had free reign to come in and begin to take over. Over the last few years the Islamic population is gaining more ground in its demands to make the northern part of France controlled by Sharia (Islamic) law. Pray for France today that the Lord’s Kingdom comes in power to this nation.
• Europe has walked further and further away from Jesus Christ in recent decades; so today as we pray for Europe let’s pray that the Church begins to ignite once again.

Day 36 (April 5)

Pray for Central/South America

Daily Direction

• Our nearest neighbor to the south, Mexico, has been on the news more and more in recent months due to the violence breaking out in the northern part of the county. The drug industry has for years had one its largest home-bases in the nation of Mexico, and the increase of violence due to the drug-wars is increasing. In the city of Tijuana the violence right across the border is causing United States officials to increase security around the borders. Pray today for peace in this nation. Pray that God raises up Christians to take seats in public office and truly influence the nation in a righteous direction.
• Colombia is another country with a history of drug trafficking, and even more specifically it has been riddled with civil-conflict due to kidnapping and hostage situations inside the country. Bogota, Colombia for years was the most violent city in the world; and with a constantly un-stable government the nation is in constant turmoil. Left-wing guerrilla groups and Colombia’s status as the center of the world cocaine industry keep it a country always on the verge of civil-unrest.
• Pray for the Church in Central/South America that boldness would fill their hearts and that the zeal to advance the Kingdom would increase. Pray that the suffering and violence that has become normal for many countries would turn people to Jesus as they search for more to life.