Discouraged Believers

Posted on 28 August 2010.

People sometimes think that every Christian in China is on fire for God. But that is not true. For many, there are similar battles to those we face in other countries.

Please lift up in prayer the believers whose letters are quote below.

"I came to faith in the Lord in 2004. Over the past few years, I have endured various kinds of physical pain. While living in pain from day to day, I tended to get discouraged and feel helpless. But I have got through this in the Lord. Now my health has improved and my husband has learnt to trust in the Lord. But I find that I have been bound by financial concerns. It seems that since 2009, I have become another person who keeps worrying about finance. I am so depressed that I have lost interest in everything. I don't even have the strength to pray. In my heart of hearts, I want to live well in the Lord, but I have failed. I am heavy hearted as if a huge mountain has come over me. I don't know why I have come to this." - Letter from Shandong province

"As I am lazy and weak, I have not done anything for God in the past twenty years since my conversion. I feel ashamed that I have not led anyone to Christ. I want to serve God, but I am discouraged when I think of my husband who is a non-believer. I agreed to marry him because he said he believed in the Lord. But after our marriage, he changed his mind. I have failed to lead him to God, owing to my own weakness." - Letter from Anhui province

"I am feeling low today, tired of my daily schedule that begins with getting up every morning, followed by going to work, being occupied for the day, getting off work, having supper, surfing on the internet before going to bed, and being too lazy for prayer. I find work meaningless. I wonder why I had such a passion for work when I graduated in 2007. While I am now getting ahead in a job that earns me twice as much as before, I have drifted apart from God. There is not a day on which I want to pray. I know that I need to do my best in the present circumstances, but I am so downhearted." - Letter from Shanghai

[All quotes from the Far East Broadcasting Company.]

Pray for believers in China like those quoted who are struggling in their faith and feeling discouraged.

Pray for those who are bound by financial worries and feel far from the Lord.

Pray for those who feel inadequate and that they have let the Lord down.

Pray for those who struggle in difficult marriages.

Pray for those who have lost hope amidst their daily routine.

Pray that all might know God's strengthening and real breakthrough in their lives.