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A message from the Iraqi Christians:

What to pray for:

• The swift stabilization of the country. There is so little law and order in the big cities. People have not been paid for three months. Employment is needed so that normality can return. Iraq should be a rich country, with the second largest oil reserves in the world. But in the words of a Christian sister, “Oil has not been a grace, but a curse because it has caused so many fights. Pray it will become a true grace for our people.”

• Wise administration. Pray for those in charge of rebuilding Iraq that they will pick the right people for the job. Said an official, “It’s so hard to know who to choose because so many are compromised by their previous associations with the Ba’ath Party. But they are often the only ones with experience of running essential services.” Pray particularly for our Christian brother, Paul Bremmer, who is seeking prayer covering around the clock for God's wisdom and words to speak.

• Safety for visiting Christians. It is still hazardous to move around the country. Aid caravans are often attacked. Some church workers from abroad have already been robbed by armed bandits. Pray that aid will get safely through and that the men of violence will soon be disarmed.

• Hope for Iraqi Christians. Many Christians are depressed, despite having survived the war. They do not see any benefits from the change of regime. They barricade themselves in darkness in their homes each evening, fearful of robbers and looters, or even of those wishing to settle family feuds. Said a Baghdad Christian, “If you have an enemy right now, better stay at home and pray he has not got a gun.” Help them to cling to hope that things will get better in time. Pray also for those Christians who are clinging to hope -- they are the ONLY ones who have faith that God is Sovereign and will be in control.

• Revival among the historic churches. Chaldean Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic -- just three of the ancient church traditions in Iraq that have kept the faith though centuries of oppression. Pray that these churches will move from simply surviving to thriving in the days ahead. Pray that as persecution comes (and many are facing it already) that they will be emboldened to speak out for the Lord.

• Greater fire among the evangelical churches. According to a Kirkuk pastor, “Our prayer times during the war transformed us from timid Christians to ‘on-fire’ Christians, because we felt God so close at a time of crisis. Pray we will be able to be bold in the future. Pray that we’ll have the freedom to share the source of our faith with non-believers.”

• A new moral culture. Christians say that extensive looting reveals that Iraqis are morally damaged from living under the demonic reign  of Saddam and the painful years of the oil embargo and the years. There is a desperate need to re-educate the people in moral virtue.

What to pray against:

• A spirit of fear. Many Iraqis have known nothing else than living under a tyrannical regime. Said a pastor, “Saddam Hussein is more than a man to us. He’s a mighty demon. Until we see him in handcuffs, many people will live in fear that he will return again.”

• Shiite extremism. Iraq is 65 percent Shiite, and they were an oppressed group under Saddam. But now they are clamoring for more freedom, and some of their hard-line clerics want sharia law to be imposed on the country. Some are even calling for violence against former regime members and collaborators. Most Shiites are not extremists, however, and we should remember that more Muslims than Christians suffer from Islamic fundamentalism.

• Identity wars. Iraq is a patchwork of different ethnic groups, some of which loathe each other. This even infects the church. Said a priest in Baghdad, “I meet so many Christians who say, ‘The most important thing is that I am a Chaldean.’ I say to them, ‘Is that all? Did Jesus not set you free? I am not the son of my father first. I am a son of God.’”

• Western exploitation. Iraqis are a proud people. If they think their country is being carved up for the benefit of outside economies, they will be very angry. Extremism will flourish. Pray that the Western interim administrators will take care to involve the Iraqi people in the rebuilding of the country.

• Mass emigration of Christians. Christians are less than three percent in Iraq and saw a further 25 percent of their numbers leave in the last 10 years. Yet there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians abroad. Pray that these Iraqi Christians living abroad will return to help the church rebuild the country.

• Arrogant evangelism. Western missionaries will surely come to Iraq in big numbers soon, but pray they will be sensitive to the local situation and work with the local believers wherever possible. Warned Fr. Jousif, “If you want to evangelize, work with the Iraqi churches. Otherwise you will make us more enemies we could do without. Respect us … we are your roots.”