Praying for the persecuted church using the seven words of Jesus on the cross.
Length of the prayer time : about 45 minutes in total
Light seven large candles and arrange them on a table. By each of the seven words pick up a candle, and when you have spoken the words, blow the candle out and put it back on the table. You start with seven lit candles and finish with seven candles that have been blown out.
The ‘seven words of Jesus’ are the seven sentences that Jesus spoke while on the cross.
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4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Pick up the fourth candle, speak these words, blow the candle out and put it back in its place on the table.
“Christians who are being persecuted must have often uttered these words, out of fear and worry, even in prison. Cried out in their pain and despair: “My God, why have you forsaken me?” In the Bible we can read of the two men on the way to Emmaus after the crucifixion. They also knew disappointment and maybe also felt forsaken. But Jesus comes to walk with them. They don’t realise that it is Jesus who is with them. Only when they have invited Jesus into their home and he breaks the bread, do they see that it is Jesus!
When the bread was broken they saw that it was Jesus.