Prayer Request

For the Cyclone Victims in Burma:
A Call to Prayer by Shaune Vincent

“When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.”

2 Samuel 22:7

On May 2nd, Cyclone Nargis slammed into the Irrawaddy Delta region in Burma's south, bringing with it winds of 190km/hr, torrential rain, and a devastating 3.5m storm surge which swept through the low lying delta region. In the aftermath of the storm, Burma has been left with devastation not seen in the country in living memory. Homes have been flattened, over one hundred thousand people killed, and those who remain are in a desperate situation and in need of emergency relief supplies - food, shelter, medicine and clean water.

As you know, the cyclone has killed an estimated 100,000 people, and displaced over 1.5 million. Worse than the cyclone is the response of the Burma government who continues to refuse help from disaster relief experts, and slowed down, blocked, and even confiscated aid that has been sent in to help. These actions are compounding the horrors for the people affected by the cyclone.

Many of us feel our hands are tied, and there is little we can do. But we have the greatest weapon known to mankind – we have the sword of the Spirit and the power of prayer in Jesus’ name.

Many of you have asked what you can do, so Partners is sending out a Call to Prayer. Stand in the gap for the cyclone victims by interceding in the following areas:

· We are commanded to pray for our enemies, and those who persecute and hurt us. Pray for the Burma military regime who has demonstrated tremendous inhumanity in delaying, rejecting, and blocking relief aid to the victims, especially in the delta area. Pray for their hard hearts to soften and show favor for their suffering people.
· Pray for an abundance of clean water, shelter, and food provision.
· Pray for the outbreak of disease that has already began due to the blocking of relief. There has already been an increase in malaria and water born diseases reported.
· Pray for wisdom in how to get relief supplies to the most desperate places in the delta.
· Pray for the network of relief workers who are risking their lives helping the cyclone victims. The risk is the Burma junta who does not want them to help.
· Pray for God to comfort those who survived, who have lost loved ones, and everything they own. Pray for those who sit and wait for help to come. Pray for open doors before more sorrow and death compound an already tragic situation.
· God is able to bring about something good what the enemy intended for evil. Pray that the Kingdom of God would shine, and that many would find hope in Jesus Christ.
· Pray for us who wish we could be in Burma to help. Pray that we would be a light for Christ, demonstrating His great love in word and action.

For more information, or to donate to the cyclone relief, go to www.partnersworld.org