Praying for persecution

Chinese Christians have a slightly different idea of how God blesses | Gene Edward Veith

How should American Christians pray for the church in China? So asked the reporter from the Baptist mission board, ending his interview with a leader of the Chinese house-church movement.

His subject answered, "Stop praying for persecution in China to end." He added, "It is through persecution that the church has grown."

The leader of the underground church then added something else: "We, in fact, are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so revival would come to the American church like we have seen in China."

James Draper, the president of the Southern Baptist bookstore chain LifeWay who recounts the incident in a column with Baptist Press, notes the irony: "We in America keep praying for God to bless us"—with success, prosperity, political clout, and booming churches—"and Christians in other nations are praying God will allow us to experience persecution so that we'll act like the blessing we were made to be."