Monday, July 22, 2013

AFWIS Joins in Prayer for Italy - Italian Republic - Europe

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Home > Jul 22: Italy

Jul 22: Italy

Italy

Italian Republic

Europe

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 301,000 sq km
A long, mountainous peninsula that dominates the central Mediterranean Sea. Also two large islands, Sardinia and Sicily.
Population: 60,097,564    Annual Growth: 0.49%
Capital: Rome
Urbanites: 68.4%
HDI Rank: 18 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 64 (17% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Italian, but vigorous use of nine regional languages akin to Italian    Languages: 42 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians49,508,37382.38-0.2
Evangelicals632,7141.11.9

Challenges for Prayer

The Roman Catholic Church continues to show signs of crisis. Studies suggest that, at most, 15% (but as low as 3%) of Italians faithfully practice Catholicism. The north is largely secular; in the south, a mix of religious Catholicism and folk superstition prevails. Yet at the same time, the Catholic Church is active and outgoing – it embodies Italian identity amid a fragmented political system and high immigration, as well as taking a strong stand against the onset of secularization and greater relativism. However, the numbers of attending faithful and of new priests are rapidly declining. Hoped-for renewal from the Catholic charismatic movement, while welcomed, is limited. Pray for the millions of Italians either locked in dead traditions or disillusioned by organized religion altogether; may they discover the living Christ.
Indifference to the gospel has typified Italy for ages. Secular materialism ensnares many. Satanism is growing in various areas, Turin being one of the global centres of its activities. Occultism continues to be alarmingly widespread – there are more than 150,000 practicing soothsayers, prognosticators and healers, in contrast to around 50,000 Catholic priests! Eastern and esoteric spirituality are increasingly popular. Italians are more liable to dabble in an occult, New Age or pagan practice than to read the Bible. Those who do pray will often pray to Padre Pio (37%) or Saint Anthony (21%) rather than to Jesus (less than 10%). Cults are active; Jehovah’s Witnesses number more in Italy than all its Protestants combined.
     For an additional 9 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Italy.
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Isaiah 37 (New International Version)





Isaiah 37

Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "

8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite [a] king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"

Hezekiah's Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 16 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. [b] "

Sennacherib's Fall

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: "The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.

25 I have dug wells in foreign lands [c] and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'

26 "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.

27 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched [d] before it grows up.

28 "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.

29 Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.

For more text press: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?...
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Proverbs 22 NIV





Proverbs 22

1 A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

2 Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.

3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

4 Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

5 In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them.

6 Train [a] a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

8 He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.

11 He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!"

14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the LORD's wrath will fall into it.

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

Sayings of the Wise

17 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,
18 for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.

19 So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you.

20 Have I not written thirty [b] sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge,

21 teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?

22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,

23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.

24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered,

25 or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.

26 Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.

29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.
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Romans 1 (New International Version)





Romans 1

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name's sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's Longing to Visit Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."[f]

God's Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
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Psalm 54 (New International Version)





Psalm 54

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Amaskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, "Is not David hiding among us?" [a]

1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

3 Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life— men without regard for God. Selah

4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.

6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good.

7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
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