Read more about this situation:

“Jakarta heats up as anti-Ahok rally begins” The Jakarta Post (November 4, 2016).

“Indonesia protest: President Joko Widodo cancels Australia visit” BBC News Asia (November 5, 2016).

“The demonstrators accuse Basuki Tjahaja Purnama [the Governor of Jakarta, also known as Ahok], a Christian, of having insulted Islam’s holy book, the Koran.”

An encouragement to “Pray the News” from PneumaReview.com author William De Arteaga.

A peaceful day near Jakarta hotels.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Russia with Crimea shown as disputed territory of Russia. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Forum18 reports that as of August 26, four individuals are known to have already been charged under the new provisions of the so-called “missionary law.”

Read the full report from the Forum18 News Service: “Russia: Punishments under anti-sharing beliefs law begin” by Victoria Arnold.

Please pray for believers who are pursuing the mission and message of Jesus. It appears that this new law is already being extended to punish even those not involved in evangelistic outreach.

Image: FreeImages.com/Bas van den Eijkhof

The most powerful discipleship method for new believers is prayer. We MUST pray for them so that they will be able to conform to the image of Christ. The Lord’s Church should be filled with individuals who are growing in their relationship with their Lord and Savior and experiencing spiritual growth. If the Church will pray for and train up every new believer in love and service, we will be better equipped to advance God’s kingdom on this earth! Some churches form a prayer circle around new believers upon their confession of faith and make a commitment before the Lord to nurture and train them. Here are several key prayers to pray for the brand new in faith:

• For Spiritual Maturity: Father, I pray that this one who has just recently placed his/her faith in you will grow to spiritual maturity, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. May he speak the truth in love so that he will in all things grow up into Christ. (Ephesians 4:13-15).
• For Humility to allow others to teach and train: Lord, may this new believer open his/her heart to those who are more mature in faith so that his love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that he may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1:9-11).
• Pray that they, being filled with the Holy Spirit, will discover and utilize the gifts God has given and use them to the best of their ability.
• Pray that they will have a daily, disciplined quiet time in order to know the Word of God and develop a powerful life of prayer.
• Pray that they will be able to resist the enemy and overcome sin when it arises in their lives.
• Pray that they will develop a fruitful ministry for the kingdom in their local church, community and beyond through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Pray that they will be bold in their witness to unbelievers, having courage to share their testimony.

From The Harvest Prayer Messenger. Used with permission of www.harvestprayer.com.

Editor Note: This corporate review is a first for PneumaReview.com. David Seal, professor at Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Michigan), approached us about having his entire New Testament Survey class write a review together. They selected a book on prayer to draw out the most practical application of biblical theology.

John DeVries, Why Pray? 40 Days—From Words to Relationship (Grand Rapids: Mission India, 2012), 243 pages, ISBN 9780978855154.

John DeVries, author of Why Pray? 40 Days—From Words to Relationship, has written a daily devotional book on why prayer is so vital in our lives. The author is a pastor, has served as a missionary in India for thirty years and is the founder of an organization called Mission India. He has also written many other books, including Pictures of Perfect Peace, A Christ Appointed Ministry, and Why Give?

This book is organized into five weeks of reading. Each week has a short chapter to be read daily. The chapters are short yet filled with content. The chapters conclude with a Reflect/Discuss thought and a Meditate thought, making this a good book choice for reading not only as an individual but as a group. The book concludes with a short epilogue, which further expands the author’s thoughts and challenges the reader to deepen their prayer life. Each week of daily readings focuses on different aspects of prayer, such as the simple ideas of why prayer is essential to a Christian’s daily life, the importance and urgency of praying first, why it is essential to be aware of our neighbor’s needs, how prayer should be done, how to build a home on the foundation of prayer, and how to be consistent in daily prayer.

DeVries begins his book by inviting readers to H.O.P.E., which stands for Homes of Prayer Everyday. He encourages families to pray together daily, seeing prayer as not something on their to-do list, but rather the necessary maintenance of relationships. The author’s intent is that his book is indeed used for daily reading—not to be read in one sitting—so there is time to reflect, apply and meditate on the truths learned with that day’s lesson.

Why Pray? maintains a reader’s interest quite easily. Not only is the subject matter timeless, but each day’s reading offers a different glimpse into living a life of prayer. Each chapter contains a short anecdote, a real life story or scriptural references that relate to an aspect of prayer. DeVries uses these stories and references to convey his thoughts on prayer and to make his book easily applicable and informative. These illustrations are captivating and thought provoking. He shares not only personal family stories, which are easily related to, but stories about his time in India. One striking example was how prayer by out-castes for upper castes was answered, resulting in the conversion of a family from the upper caste (119‒122). His time in India has certainly given him a unique perspective on prayer.

DeVries causes the reader to reflect in fresh ways on prayer, encouraging not only the new believer but the scholar as well. For example, he uses the illustration of a young boy riding a tractor with his grandfather as “they” do the work on the grandfather’s fields. As he furthers his analogy he writes, “This image strikes me as a picture of myself in prayer. Prayer is the dependent relationship in which I sit on the lap of my heavenly Father and put my hand on His as He steers the tractor. After all, He not only owns and drives the tractor, but He owns the farm!” (30‒31). As DeVries continues his analogy he comments that sometimes we fall asleep in prayer, as a child may fall asleep in their father’s lap. Perhaps that is because we feel safe “sitting on God’s lap.” While that is a comforting picture, it seems important for the author to have acknowledged that falling asleep while praying should not become habitual.