NEWS FOR YOR PRAYER AND ACTION |
14 SUICIDES EVERY HOUR IN INDIA
India is witnessing a minimum of 14 suicides every hour for reasons ranging from family problems to various sicknesses.
The report of NCRV, under the topic, “Accidental Deaths and Suicides” with regard to suicides, in the year 2007:
1 out f every 3 suicides is a young person and 1 out of every 5 suicides is a family woman.
Last year alone the country has witnessed 1, 22,637 suicides, out of which 1, 22,367 were women. The toll of suicides has increased by 3.8 % this year when compared to the previous year.
In the district level, Maharashtra takes the first place, numbering 15,184 suicide cases; and Andhra takes the second place by numbering 14,882 suicide cases.
There is an alarming increase in the number of family suicides in the country. Last year 264 such suicides were reported, out of which 146 were women.
In the family suicide cases, Kerala stands first with a toll of 39 cases reported last year alone.
PRAYER POINTS.
| 1. |
Continue to praise God for His faithfulness in your life. He has sustained you in all the circumstances. You and I are special in His sight, so let us spend some time in praising and worshipping God. |
| 2. |
Pray for all those who are involved in producing Christian magazines. Pray that through print media, God’s word would penetrate in the hearts of the readers and make them an useful instruments in the hands of the Lord. |
| 3. |
Pray that the Christian communities’ life style will attract others to follow Jesus Christ. Pray especially for the Bishops, Elders, Pastors and other church leaders. |
| 4. |
Please pray for the coming general election in India which will take place from April 16. It will be in five phases on April 16, 23 and 30 and on May 7 and 13, 2009. Let us pray that God will set up a government which support and strengthen the constitutional rights of every Indian citizen and is tolerant of all religion. |
| 5. |
Four years after the deadly tsunami claimed over 230,000 lives in Asia, millions of dollars pledged by various countries are yet to be delivered and at least 3 billion dollars received has not been spent, according to BBC report. Spain and France, for example, have each given barely a million dollars each when they pledges over 59 million each; the US had given only 38% of what it had pledged. Pray that these countries will soon act and help tsunami victims all over the world. |
| 6. |
Child prostitution is increasing rapidly. About 80,000 to 100,000 children are forced to work as prostitutes in India; about 350,000 children suffer from commercial sexual abuse and killed. About 111 million Indian children (out of 250 million children world wide) are child laborers. Pray for the NGOs working along these line will work hard in saving children’s lives. |
| 7. |
Pray for the children and youth in India, Child Labor Act of 1986 seem to have less impact. More than 70 million children are included in India’s work force, 10 million children are included in India’s work force, 10 millions of them serve as bonded laborers, or slaves, to help pay off family debt. Prostitution is common, with more than 575,000 child prostitutes. |
| 8. |
More Christians have been martyred in the past 100 years than in all previous 1900 years combined and the persecution of Christians is growing. In many countries Christians are harassed, tortured, imprisoned and even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. |
| 9. |
Please pray once again for the general election of India starting tomorrow. Pray that the citizen will have a sense of discernment to vote for the candidates who are honest and faithful in serving the nation with integrity and just. |
| 10. |
South India and Sri Lanka have been the primary home for the majority of Tamil Muslims and Sunni Islam came to these people from Arab merchants and sailors who settled in their regions and married Tamil women. As a people, they are recognize as hard working, shrewd shopkeepers and faithful to their religious beliefs. Pray that Christian Tamils in India and Sri Lanka will be a witness for Jesus Christ among their Muslim neighbors |
| 11. |
Are you discouraged and restless? Don’t give up because God is helping you to know Him in an intimate way. Therefore, continue to renew your inner being in confirmation with the Scripture. |
| 12. |
Pease pray for God’s protection for all the Christians under attack. Pray that the Lord will give them strength and peace to endure. Pray for the Lord’s forgiveness, and salvation for the persecutors. Pray that the forces of the evil one will have no hold on believers. |
| 13. |
Continue to pray for Pastors, Bishops of Church of North India, Church of South India and other Para-church organizations, who are serving the Lord at different levels. Pray that the Christian community will be a salt and light for His glory. |
| 14. |
Let us pray for perseverance and consistency in our spiritual and work life. Pray that all our actions will honor and glorified the Father. |
| 15. |
Continue to pray for the grass-roof gospel workers and local lay leaders, that the Lord will protect and give them strength to serve Him faithfully. |
| 16. |
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed” Proverbs. 16:3. Let us commit to the Lord all our plans and pray that the Lord would enable us to be effective in witnessing and working for Him. Let us pray for all nations that the Lord would enable the political leaders in every nation to rule the nations with peace, justice and righteousness. Let us pray for our nation that the Lord would enable all faith communities to live in peace and harmony. ‘Lord please help the Church in India to be the salt and the light for your glory’. |
| 17. |
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters worship the Lord together in the beauty of His holiness”. Let us pray for Pastors, Priests, Presbyters and Elders & their teams as they enable the congregations to celebrate the work of the Lord done through people in various ways during the week. “Build your Church, O Lord, make us one Lord in your body”. Remember to pray for Christians in persecution & suffering. |
| 18. |
“Surely the Lord took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows”. Let us pray for all Church denominations in our nation and in the nations around the world as we prepare ourselves to remember the suffering, the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in a special way during the passion week that the Lord would touch the needed areas in our lives and cleanse us in order that we live in this world as His witnesses and glorified God who is in heaven. |
| 19. |
“All glory, laud and honour to the Redeemer King”. May we look at the awesome Lord and sing Hosanna to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let us pray for our loved ones today who are away from the Lord that God would enable them to receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Please pray also for all those who are involved in leading children, youth and adults to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation that God would help them to be effective in the ministry of evangelism. |
| 20. |
“God has ordained praise from the lips of children, youth and adults”. Let us praise God for He is at work in every nook and corner of the world. Let us pray for those who oppose the proclaimation of the Gospel that the Lord would minister to them in a very special way. |
| 21. |
Let us pray for the differently able children, youth and adults as well as affected families affected & infected with HIV / AIDS in Church and society. Think of the bereaved families in your local Churches, neighbourhood, district & State and be of blessing to them as the Lord leads you. |
| 22. |
Let us ask the Lord to continue to enable the Christian community in India to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God and be pro-active in addressing the Millennium Development Goals. Please pray that God would enable the Government of India in resolving issues related to the Millennium Development Goals. Let us also pray for various faith-based initiatives that are making conscious efforts in addressing MDG in order to reduce poverty. |
| 23. |
“The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him”. As we gather together in our local Churches, let us affirm one another in the ministry of the Lord. May we pray for Indian Missionaries & their families working in various situations: urban, rural and tribal within India and Overseas. Let us pray for the Missions wing of every local Church across the Nation for its efforts to sending, praying & giving for Missions.
Sometimes you may be discouraged and restless. Don’t give up because God is helping you to know Him in a intimate way. Ask God to show all your weakness so that you may grow mature in the Lord. |
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