How One Man’s Story Can Encourage Us to Pray
By Johnnie Moore
Peter’s grandmother was a witchdoctor. But when Peter was ten years old, he witnessed her life-changing encounter with Jesus. He then made his own decision to follow Christ and dedicated himself to witnessing to everyone around him.
Peter tells each piece of his story earnestly, rapidly. He stops to laugh, wipes his eyes. Then he tells the next part, stops to laugh, and again wipes his eyes. His first persecution came at university, where he was pressured to renounce his faith or step down from student leadership. Later, long imprisonment marked him.
The more he talks, the more obvious it is that some of those tears are not mere humor. Some tears reflect painful memories, and others come from deep gratitude for what God has done—for Peter and for the persecuted church he now serves.
Firsthand Prayer Encouragement
Peter’s story, adapted here, can help us better understand how to pray for those being persecuted right now for their faith. The ways Peter prayed through the darkest days of his life provide examples of how to remain faithful in prayer—in our own lives and on behalf of others.
I had been baptized as a boy when Watchman Nee’s teams came to do ministry. At that time, my grandma was a high-ranking witch in a coven. She could perform miraculous signs and “heal” people, but her body would take on the suffering of those she was healing. Our family would also suffer from disease or our animals would die. Grandma grew frustrated and fearful. She had a special room in her house where she worshiped idols. The atmosphere was very dark in there. My family was afraid to go near.
During that time, many evangelists traveled to our town. One day, two of them came to my house and prayed for my grandma. She heard that when you believe in Jesus, He brings peace and blessing to your life. So she accepted Jesus as her Savior. Then the evangelists burned all of Grandma’s idols. I will never forget coming home from school that day. Immediately, I felt like there was light in our house.
But there were still evil spirits in Grandma. So the evangelists repeatedly came to our home to lay hands on her and cast out the demons, and she would scream. Then suddenly one day she was fine. The evil spirits were gone! My three sisters and I were little kids then, watching this unfold. I came to trust Jesus after I saw such a dramatic change in my grandma. I knew there was a God and that God had the power to defeat evil.
After all this, a peace filled our home. I was filled with joy, and I led my mother to the Lord. Soon all of my family was saved. I would read the Bible secretly, even in school, right up until I finished college. I prayed a lot. It didn’t matter what I encountered, I would pray. Persecution began. Yet God also performed signs and wonders.
At university, the Lord began teaching me some hard lessons. Previously I was a new Christian, but now the Lord started to ask me to sacrifice some things. The first year at university, I became class president. But one weekend, my professor, a Communist party member, couldn’t find me. My friend told him I was at church. The professor was furious. When I came back from church, he said, “You are a youth being raised under the red flag of the Communist party, so you should not indulge in Western thoughts and religion.”
Then came other school leaders and Communist party leaders. They all tried to lead me away from Christian thinking. But I prayed constantly through all of this, and the Lord strengthened me.
Finally, my professor threatened me. He said I could give up my Christian beliefs or give up being class president. I told my professor that I would rather be a Christian than head of the class. He thought that was unbelievable. Why would anyone make this kind of sacrifice for Jesus? But I felt free and relieved. As class president I couldn’t tell others I was a Christian or I’d lose my position. But now I could share Jesus freely with my friends on campus.
After college, I wasn’t completely satisfied in my heart because I saw many people come to church for different purposes. I wanted a more authentic spiritual life. I wanted to become more mature in my faith. So I cried out, “If you’re a God that exists just to meet people’s needs, then I don’t want to believe in You anymore. If You want me to continuously follow You, give me direction as to which way I should go in my life.”
That year, I went to a Christian leadership conference, but many of us were arrested. Thirty or forty elders and people in leadership were brought to prison.
The officials thought I was a top leader because I was well educated. They placed me in a solitary room, and they watched me minute by minute. The police asked the head of the prison, the big boss, to monitor me closely. Then the guards began to beat me.
I was young and afraid. But then came the day they asked me to share about Christianity. And it was the big boss who said all the prisoners were required to listen as well!
“Everyone, listen carefully,” the big boss said. “If he repeats himself, you can beat him.” The prison had a rule that we had to study in the morning and evening. But now they had to study by listening to me teach about Christianity!
I would preach twice a day, starting from Genesis, without a Bible. I touched on everything, especially why we need Jesus. After each session, the big boss would debate with me. I had to pretend he would win. But I knew that every time I would preach, hearts were softening.
Within the jail there was a hierarchy. Originally, I had to clean toilets, but every day after I would preach, I would get upgraded. Soon I was moved to a wooden bed. Then I got to sleep near the big boss, not near the toilets. Finally I started to get meat to eat sometimes, not just a little rice. So I knew the big boss was slowly changing his mind.
The big boss was a kung fu master. He could beat anyone. He had restless hands. Any disobedience was met with his wrath. And he had a law degree. After I stayed there one month, he said, “You must be sentenced to at least three years!”
That’s when I cried out to God, “Lord, I can’t be here three years!” Then I prayed, “Lord, if I bring this man to Christ, then can I go?” The presence of the Lord was so real, so strong! All I could do was continue to pray. Then I felt relaxed and released by God.
One night, the big boss couldn’t sleep. He asked me to talk to him. He said one of my words from God touched him. He began to open up. He told me he came from a celebrity family and was the head of the mafia in another city. He was part of the “Black Society,” with 3,000 subordinates under him. “Even the mayor would kneel to me and submit to me,” the big boss said. “Everyone was afraid of me.” He was also a high-ranking officer. But when he was stationed at that prison, everyone ignored him—even his wife and children.
He started telling me his secrets. One night, he said he thought I’d be transferred to another jail, or maybe even released. “So we have no time left,” he said suddenly. “What can I do to be saved?”
I led him to Christ that night. After the big boss received Christ, he changed! In the past, every day he felt he had to beat someone. But now, when he would get provoked, he’d say, “If it weren’t for Christ, I would beat you!” All of the people in that cell were saved—15 people total!
The big boss asked me, “Besides confessing my sins, what else do I need to do?”
I said, “You need to be baptized.” We didn’t know how to do that in the jail. But then we decided there was a small tank in the shower for bathing that we could use.
One day, we stepped outside to get some fresh air, and the big boss said, “Okay, let’s do it now.”
We filled the tank in the shower, and when he came up out of the water, he was so joyful. He ran to tell the others there that he had been saved!
The very next day, I got the news that I was released. Right before I left, the big boss asked me questions, like how to pray. I only had a little time, so I wrote down some verses for him. Ever since then, I have been in ministry. God has protected me.
The next time you feel defeated and unwilling to pray, remember the faith of Peter. Whether in a season of comfort, or a season of pain, Peter was always letting his requests be made known unto God (Phil. 4:6). He never wavered. He never pressed a pause button on his faith. He trusted God’s plan for him.
Ways to Pray
We may never experience the kind of suffering for our faith that some believers around the world do. But we can actively engage in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ by praying faithfully for them.
Here are some prayer points for the persecuted Church:
- Pray they will know God’s presence and comfort in their fear, pain, and suffering. Ask God to show them how dearly He loves them—and that He has not forgotten them in their struggles.
- Pray for protection from violence, abuse, and harassment. But should they continue to suffer, ask God to strengthen their faith and resolve.
- Pray they will not be broken in spirit or fall into despair. May they always keep their eyes fixed on Jesus.
- Ask God to miraculously turn every evil done against them into greater advancement of the gospel.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to fill them with grace and the power to demonstrate the love of Christ in even the most difficult situations.
- Ask God to remind you often of your brothers and sisters who are suffering for Christ. Pray for God to transform your heart to remember them, pray for them, love them, and remain one with them in Christ.
- Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:44 to pray for those who persecute us. Pray that those who suffer will have extraordinary love that comes through the empowerment of the Spirit. Pray that their prayers will bring about transformed hearts of hardened and cruel people.
In Peter’s difficult circumstances, he did not operate out of fear. Instead, he relied on our powerful and sovereign God. May our prayer lives be as constant and unmoved as Peter’s, always faithful until the end.
JOHNNIE MOORE is founder and president of The KAIROS Company, a public relations and communications consulting firm. He has served as an adviser to multiple presidential candidates, and was also senior vice president of Liberty University.
