Sooo are we better off asking for God to refine purify our faith? Will He do this apart from persecution?

Only the godly have saving faith, therefore all who live godly will suffer persecution...and for sure, their faith will be tested. Persecution is an inevitability to the godly and thus so is the testing of their faith.

Here is my prayer for you, Bear.

2Th 1:11-12 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am not going to tell God how to do that in you. How He works it out in your life is His business, but I pray that whatever you go through in this life God will strengthen, and establish you in Him so that you are never moved from the hope of your calling in Christ Jesus.

If we are a disciple of Jesus Christ, following Him, denying self, and taking up our cross, then we will have trials and we will be persecuted. But I cannot find anywhere in the bible where we are instructed to pray for persecution. The Word of God says that we are to pray for all those in authority that we might live a quite and peaceable life.

There is a way to bypass persecution and trials, and that is by walking in the broad way. All those that will save their lives (soul life) will loose it, and the ones that will loose their lives (soul life) will find it.

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Mike

Amen!

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Todd

So agree. Thx for the prayer J. Hard to argue with the Apostle Paul. Probably time to bed this thread down.

And what a temptation it is to "walk in the broad" way, just for the sake of being left be...

Bother Blaine

Your post title caught my eye and i got to say i love your intent behind the question and as you have pointed out rephrasing the question or prayer. There is an absolute beautiful moment in persecution when walking with Christ that not all Christians experience. Corrie ten Blooms could only have the relationship she had with God because of the persecution's she went through and as a result her experiences still help many Christians today especially forgiveness and depending on God.

Why God allows Christians to go through different types of persecutions is his understanding alone. i know that my own trials have tested me to the very core of my character and the the one i am going through at the moment had me in tears of Joy knowing that i am drinking from the same spiritual cup that my Brothers and sisters in Christ have drunk from. I did not believe that i was worthy of God refining me this way. if you get lost in the flesh it destroys you but if you hold your eyes upon Christ it gives you assurance that you will be one day standing in heaven.

I could have easily walked away from the trial with no pain but i know that if i want Gods spiritual fruit working in my life then i must walk through these with him.

Paul washer said in a sermon that he would encourage his children to go into the hardest mission fields so that they would be able to also build this relationship with Jesus and that they would be found worthy to be tried and tested. At first this kind of put me on a back step when i first heard it but now i understand. These are the Marks of Christ that Paul talks about. Cheers bro

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karl rashleigh

There are so many different types of hardships and trials one can find themselves in that test their faith to the core. No one is immune.

I always appreciate testimonies of how God used sickness, or loss, or peril, or persecution to refine them. He is the Master Builder and knows what we all need. It would be very presumptuous of me to decided what another man needs to have happen in his life since I know absolutely nothing about his heart.

I could order (pray for) a round of persecution for this people group and a round of sickness for that one, and maybe great loss from a hurricane and flood for this other group of people, but do I really know what I am doing?