The Inter-Dimensional Web

By Maria Fontaine

November 9, 2013

Virtually everyone is familiar with the Internet and how interconnected it has made people the world over. Have you considered that as a Christian, you are spiritually interconnected with other believers in an even greater way, through a spiritual “internet”?

Jesus is the focal point for all Christians. Every believer is connected to Him through His Holy Spirit.^{^[1]} He’s like our hub and in Him we have a spiritual connection. Through this “inter-dimensional web,” we have the means to communicate our prayer support no matter where people are.

We initiate the connection by praying for those in need. He empowers our prayers in the form that He knows will best benefit the ones we’re praying for.

Prayer and love have some principles in common. The more love you give away, the more love grows, both in you and in the recipient of your love. The more you pray for others to have faith, peace, spiritual strength, and supply of their needs, the more the Lord’s blessings can pour into your life as well.^{^[2]}

Many of our fellow Christians are facing extreme challenges and are desperate for our prayers. Many of us can hardly imagine the terrible things that millions of our brethren around the world are suffering. The World Evangelical Fellowship estimates that 200 million Christians worldwide live under the daily threat of imprisonment, torture, or execution because of their faith.^{^[3]}

“Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed because of some relation to their faith every year,” Vatican spokesman Silvano Maria Tomassi said recently in a radio address to the United Nations Human Rights Council.^{^[4]}

Besides persecution, scores of countries in the world are in some kind of war, civil or otherwise. Many of our fellow Christians are citizens of these countries and are deeply affected.

Whether from war or persecution, the consequences are grave. Some of our brethren in the Lord in these places are fleeing for their lives. Many don’t have a roof over their heads. Others are without clean water, or food, or electricity, or toilets, or a way to support themselves and their families. Some are in almost unbearable conditions in crowded refugee camps or prisons. Many are injured and in pain. Thousands have lost loved ones. Many are hungry and frightened.

We may not be able to physically help them, but we have the power to lift and share their burdens and bring them added strength, faith, and hope through prayer.

You might think, “But Lord, what can my little prayer do in the face of so much suffering, so much affliction, so much persecution and destruction?”

That’s exactly what I asked Jesus. He said to me:

Your prayers make far more difference than you realize. My people in many countries are truly suffering and paying a high price for their faith. I do answer prayer and I will use your prayers to give them the strength, grace, and wisdom to overcome during their hour of great trial. So much can be done as My followers around the world unite in spirit, utilizing My power and love to support your brothers and sisters in their time of need. Please don’t neglect to pray.

How should we pray? The specific method or words are not what bring answers; it’s the love and care poured out from the heart, our faith in Jesus to bring the answers, and the determination to stand with our spiritual brothers and sisters in their time of need. That’s what energizes our prayers and speeds them on their way. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”^{^[5]}

Here are some prayer helps that you might want to use in the days to come.

Try to put yourself in the place of the sufferers and pray for them as you would want them to pray for you if you were in those situations.

Think about a time of dire need in your own life when the Lord came through for you due to the prayers of others.

Ask God to give you faith to believe that your prayers do make a difference in bringing added light, faith, peace, and supply to those you pray for.

Be informed about how world events are affecting other Christians so you can pray for their specific needs.

Remember the instruction in the Word:

Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.^{^[6]}

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.^{^[7]}

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.^{^[8]}

Claim His promises:

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.^{^[9]}

And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.^{^[10]}

Therefore I say unto you, whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you shall have them.^{^[11]}

Also, as we claim the powerful keys of the kingdom that Jesus gave to us, we can trust that He will supply what each person needs: comfort to the heartbroken, strength to the faint, encouragement to those in despair, healing to those who need it, and boldness with wisdom to stand up for Jesus.

What should we pray for? Here are some suggestions from a message from Jesus. I’m sure He can add more specifics for each situation if you ask Him.

He said:

When you pray for the persecuted, pray for their faith and grace. Pray for them to feel My presence so close to them and so real, that no matter what they face, they will be a testimony whether I deliver them in this life or deliver them by taking them to the next.

Pray for supply for those who have lost their homes and their livelihoods because of war and persecution.

Pray for those who are risking life and limb to bring food and housing and medicine to those in desperate need.

Pray for the children who are traumatized by the sights and sounds of war. Pray that My angels of peace will calm their spirits and soothe their hearts and blot out the horrors, filling them with My peace and comfort.

For those who are wounded and suffering, pray for My Spirit to ease their pain and heal their broken bodies.

Pray for those who are suffering from thirst or hunger.

Pray for those of My children who are feeling forsaken and hopeless. Claim renewed faith for them whether through dreams, miracles, or remembrances of how I have delivered and brought My children through in the past.

Pray that each of My followers will reflect the beauty of My Spirit. Pray that no matter what they are experiencing, no matter how dreadful the darkness, that I will give them joy in place of sorrow. Pray that My light can shine through them to bring joy and comfort and salvation to others.

In response to Jesus’ request to us, can we stop right now and take a little time to pray for His children who need us?

And may we be able to say to our brothers and sisters in the Lord, as Samuel said to the people of Israel, “As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.”^{^[12]}

The need is great. The Lord’s power is within us to enact change. If we pray, we will make a difference.

^{^[1]} Ephesians 4:15–16, Romans 12:4–5.

^{^[2]} Luke 6:38.

^{^[3]} Glenn M. Penner, In the Shadow of the Cross (Living Sacrifice Books, 2004), 17.

^{^[4]} Fox News

^{^[5]} James 5:16 NLT.

^{^[6]} Galatians 6:2.

^{^[7]} Galatians 6:10.

^{^[8]} Ephesians 6:18 NIV.

^{^[9]} 1 John 5:14.

^{^[10]} Matthew 21:22.

^{^[11]} Mark 11:24.

^{^[12]} 1 Samuel 12:23.