Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

Daily Courage - Sept. 12, 2009

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
(Mark 11:24)

Irina Ratushinskaya

We usually add the following words to our prayer, "Thy will be done, not mine."

It sounds very devout, but is it? When a prayer is not granted, was it because it was against God's will or because we did not really believe it would be heard?

There is however one prayer that is always in harmony with God's will. You all know it. Its first words are, "Our Father."

Let us consider the prayer that Christ gave to us for a moment. The Kingdom of God will indeed come on earth; His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We will be given our daily bread and our sins will be forgiven! And we will do no more sin. The attacks of the devil will not be successful, for God will protect us.

Isn't this miracle greater than the boldest of our own wishes?

Today, presently - we can do it with God's help.

Are we afraid it will not come true after all? So what? We can ask the Lord to strengthen our faith in Him. He can do it. Now.

Writer for the month - Irina Ratushinskaya from Russia was imprisoned for seven years in a labor camp. She has written about her experiences in a moving book entitled Grey is the Colour of Hope published by Sceptre Books, 1989.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

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[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  (1 Corinthians 1:20)

Gerhard Hamm

Paul describes here the main difference between human and divine wisdom. The world only acknowledges human wisdom and such was also the case in our country. We Christians were considered second-rate citizens. Oh how often children from Christian families had to suffer scorn and abuse! At school, they received lower marks and were labeled bad students.

Many things have changed in Russia since 1989. Never before has there been such openness for the Gospel as there is now. Once, during an open air meeting, a very learned woman came to me. She was a lecturer at the Atheistic University. She looked pale and confused. When I asked her what I could do for her, she answered, "I have been fighting your God, your Bible, the Christians for twenty years now..." She hesitated for a moment and then continued, "But I was wrong." She fell silent again ... "and now I want to know more of the truth. Help me."

Her head bowed, this learned atheist stood before a Christian who had formerly been considered a second-rate citizen. I told her about the Gospel and prayed with her. Then she went home, walking in the light.

"The One enthroned in heaven laughs" (Psalm 2:4).  For He is in command, nothing is too difficult for Him. The Iron Curtain fell and God is building His Church.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Writer for the month - Gerhard Hamm from Russia spent many years in prisons and labor camps in Northern Siberia.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  (Psalm 73:23-24)

Gerhard Hamm

It is not always easy to live close to the Lord, for the powers of evil are always attempting to disturb our relationship with God. But, thank God, Jesus is more powerful than Satan. People who know Christ may count on His protection when the devil is cunningly trying to tempt them.

I have often experienced this in Siberia. When I was still living in the polar region, where the temperature in winter was sometimes 56 degrees below zero, the KGB one day offered to get me out of the cold, on condition that I help them out in "a small matter." I was offered a good job in a prison camp with a nice, heated room from which I was able to listen in to the conversations of other Christian prisoners. All I had to do was pass on the contents of those conversations to the KGB. "We would only like to know what kind of things people talk about." It was a very tempting offer, away from the cold, no more forced labor. But the Lord was there to help me. I saw the viciousness of the plan. "Do you know what Judas did after his betrayal?" I asked. The man shook his head. "Judas committed suicide ... and I want to live."

The conversation was over. I did not get the warm room and the attractive job. I had to get back into the cold. But my heart was warm.

Satan always offers us a compromise, so be watchful. Christians who enter into a compromise are of no value to God or man. Only those who remain faithful to the Lord, anywhere and under any circumstance, are valuable.

Writer for the month - Gerhard Hamm from Russia spent many years in prisons and labor camps in Northern Siberia.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.
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Day by Day with the Persecuted Church
compiled by Jan Pit with a forward by Brother Andrew (paperback, revised 2000)

Compelling wisdom from the pen of actual believers living amidst persecution, you'll be connected to the suffering, courage, and depth of life that exists in the harshest places in the world.  Each of these 365 thought-provoking devotions will deepen your understanding of Christian persecution and provoke you to pray for our brothers and sisters with a new found depth



Crosswalk Home  |  Devotionals  |  Bible Study Tools  |  More Newsletters  @ crosswalk.com


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[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.  (John 4:35)

Gerhard Hamm

Although Christians in Russia were considered to be second-rate citizens for many years, we are happy now to see that many people show an interest in us. Many atheists and communists are disappointed and are searching for a new ideology. They ask Christians to tell them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, the fields are ripe for harvest in the former Soviet Union.

After the downfall of communism, I spoke at an open air meeting in Siberia. More than 4,000 people came to listen. I knew this place in the woods very well because I had looked after my father's cows there 50 years ago. Many, many people were converted and accepted the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Among them was a teacher. She came to us and said, "Oh, Lord, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me please. For years I have told the children that there is no God, but in my heart I knew I was wrong. As from this day, I will tell the children that there really is a God and that He forgives our sins."

Yes, the fields are ripe for harvest. If God can cause such a breakthrough in this communist stronghold, we can only say, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).

God makes all things new. In your life and in mine. Today.

Writer for the month - Gerhard Hamm from Russia spent many years in prisons and labor camps in Northern Siberia.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day by Day with the Persecuted Church
compiled by Jan Pit with a forward by Brother Andrew (paperback, revised 2000)

Compelling wisdom from the pen of actual believers living amidst persecution, you'll be connected to the suffering, courage, and depth of life that exists in the harshest places in the world.  Each of these 365 thought-provoking devotions will deepen your understanding of Christian persecution and provoke you to pray for our brothers and sisters with a new found depth.
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[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. (Daniel 6:11)

Gerhard Hamm

Daniel prayed in spite of the king's decree. He was aware that praying was dangerous, but he also realized that prayer was of vital importance. How odd that praying could cost him his life, while not praying would kill him spiritually. It was no difficult choice. To him, his relationship with God was more important than his position or his life.

In Russia, prayer also met with great opposition. The devil knows only too well that praying people are victorious people.

One day, I was arrested together with 30 other brothers in Moscow. We were taken to the police station and locked up in an ice-cold room. It was a few days before Christmas and we thought we would probably not be home by then. It was no use complaining, so one of the brothers said, "Let's pray." We all knelt down on the cold concrete floor and then there followed a miraculous hour of prayer. The policeman was dumbfounded, but afterwards he said, "What kind of fanatics are you? How dare you pray in an atheist police station?" A long conversation followed.

Later on, an officer appeared and he said, "We don't know what to do with you. If we imprison one of you, he will convert another prisoner. If we imprison two, another two will be converted. Go home, you won't bother us there."

And he was right. Prayer gives strength and opens doors. If it doesn't open doors of prison cells, it opens the hearts of people inside prisons. What a powerful weapon! Use it.

Writer for the month - Gerhard Hamm from Russia spent many years in prisons and labor camps in Northern Siberia.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.  

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1)

Gerhard Hamm

I am so grateful to my parents for having taught us to pray. And above all, for having been praying people themselves.

We saw the value and the power of prayer in our parents. Father was shot and killed for it and mother deported to Siberia, where she died. We, their children, have never considered this a tragic loss, but a spiritual victory.

Their prayers were taken up to heaven by angels and put into golden censers (Revelation 8:3, 4). And their prayers were heard. They had twenty children, ten of whom are dead now, and many of them died in Siberia. We, the remaining ten children, suffered much in Siberia, but God has been good and merciful to us. All ten have become servants of the Lord. In times of severe persecution, we saw how our parents found strength in the Lord, through prayer and faith. We want to follow in their footsteps and go on. Do our children see the power of prayer in us?

"Lord, teach us to pray."

Writer for the month - Gerhard Hamm from Russia spent many years in prisons and labor camps in Northern Siberia.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

[Judy Harder]

Enoch walked with God. (Genesis 5:24)

Constantin Caraman

Walking with God. Can it be done today?

Was it not much easier for Enoch to walk with God? Did he not live in the "good old days?" No, those old days were not that good. They were times of change and apostasy.

In fact, people lived according to their own standards so much that it was not difficult to notice a man who had different standards, God's standards: he walked with God.

He did so in spite of the slander and temptation of the world around him.

No, it is not at all easy to walk with God. It is much easier to only believe in God in your hearts and live like the rest of the world. But that is not walking with God. That is a compromise which makes any walk with God impossible.

How then do we walk with God? By acknowledging Him in all things, in seeking Him, and living for Him.

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:6).

How delightful it is to walk with God in those paths.

Writer for the month - Constantin Caraman from Romania was in prison three times for his faith.

[Judy Harder]

have sinned against the Lord. (2 Samuel 12:13)

Constantin Caraman

It takes courage to tell a king the truth, especially when the truth will result in punishment. Punishment for the king (by God) and punishment for yourself (by the king). John the Baptist did it and it cost him his head.

When David made some serious mistakes, God sent the prophet Nathan to point them out to him. It was a difficult task for Nathan. Which one of us would like to be a bearer of bad tidings? But Nathan went to tell the king what the consequences of his sin would be. How did David react? Did he have Nathan killed? No, David did something unusual - he accepted the criticism and admitted the guilt, "I have sinned."

He did not try to defend himself, but humbled himself before God. Is this not characteristic of a man after God's own heart?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23, 24)

Writer for the month - Constantin Caraman from Romania was in prison three times for his faith.
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[Judy Harder]

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.  (Job 1:21)

Constantin Caraman

When I was working as a doctor in the Romanian countryside, I once met an old man. He was walking in the middle of the road, crying. I stopped and asked if there was anything I could do for him. He said, "I had seven sons and all of them have been killed." I looked into the face of this man to whom life had little meaning anymore. Automatically, the question arises, "O Lord, why so much suffering?"

"I can't go on any more and I don't want to either," the man said. In moments like these, it is better to be silent. Then the only thing for a doctor to do is to entrust him to the care of our Great Healer and pray for peace and strength. I was thinking about Job. He would have understood and helped this man much better. But Job was not there. But He, who was tempted in every way, just as we are, He was there - Jesus Christ. He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

Job knew grief like no other. His reaction to suffering was not a fatalistic one. Fatalists say, "It just happens to you and there is nothing you can do about it." But Job sought comfort in the Lord in spite of his inner struggle and his questions. He had the kind of submission that overcame the ordeal.

My life is in God's hand. It is safe there, whatever happens.

Writer for the month - Constantin Caraman from Romania was in prison three times for his faith.
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[Judy Harder]

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

Constantin Caraman

This is no easy assignment. We are inclined to dislike those who hurt us. The best thing we are able to do is to ignore them. But God requires something totally different. He wants us to bless those who hate us. To pray for those who persecute us. That seems impossible. Remember that blessing someone does not mean that we approve of his actions. In fact, we disapprove of their behavior, but they need God. That's why we need to pray for them, and bless them with the love of the Lord.

In His sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:44-48), Jesus even tells us to love them. We ourselves could never find it in our hearts to love an enemy. It just goes against our nature. Where in the world will we find people who can? You will only find it in people who are no longer of this world, but now belong to the Kingdom of God.

In Christ, who forgave us first, we are able to do the unusual deed of embracing an enemy, of loving those who hate us, of praying for those who persecute us, of blessing those who curse us.

And so, through us, Christ can reach that hard heart, so that it may also discover Christ's forgiveness and have eternal life.

Writer for the month - Constantin Caraman from Romania was in prison three times for his faith.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.
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