Varanasi is a city in the Uttar Pradesh state of northern India. As can be seen by the miles of ghats, temples, and shrines lining the river Ganges, Varanasi is the holiest site in Hinduism, drawing more than 2.5 million religious devotees yearly. India’s government is a constitutional republic representing a highly diverse population with thousands of ethnic groups, hundreds of languages, and a complex caste system. |
The nation has a convoluted social and cultural history, featuring a rich intellectual life in the sciences, arts, and religious tradition. After gaining independence from the British in 1947, India split from the predominantly Muslim regions of present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Despite earnest attempts to unify the country, tensions between rival ethnic groups and religious sects, rich and poor, have further divided the nation. |
Burdening the country further, India has more abandoned children than any nation, with over 30 million orphans wandering bustling streets and railway stations. This cultural dynamism creates immense challenges for the central government but an enormous opportunity for the church of India to step into the harvest fields moved with compassion and great expectation. |
PRAISE “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:4) |
KINGDOM COME “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Father we pray for the Good News of the Kingdom to be shared in a clear, understandable, and reproducible way among all of the unengaged, unreached people groups in 110 Cities. |
AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible’s words are able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Jesus and we pray that these words of life would come with self-authenticating and sanctifying authority to the people in this city. May Your Word, O God, be the foundational source of truth and discernment for all matters of faith and practice and shepherding among the peoples who call this city home. We pray against competing authorities and ask that as biblical understanding increases that love, dependence upon, and obedience to You would correspondingly increase. In Jesus’ name. Amen. |
PRAY THE BOOK OF ACTS “And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.” (Acts 27:35) Lord, may believers in this city exhibit such unshakeable confidence in Your Word and Your provision, that even in the scariest of circumstances they can still give thanks to You. We pray that many will be drawn to Christ in this city through believers’ firm faith in You. |
PRAY FOR HEALTHY CHURCHES Creator God, You designed life on earth to multiply — plants, trees, animals, people — and healthy life reproduces healthy offspring. Similarly, we acknowledge that healthy churches reproduce healthy disciples and churches. For the glory of Your name, we pray for healthy churches in this city and nation, characterized by worship in spirit and truth, love-motivated gospel-sharing near and far, intentional discipleship, and genuine life-on-life community. Bless Your church with spiritual gifts, godly leaders, unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Your Son, integrity, and an interdependence that nurtures the church in love (Eph 4). |
Use these resources to help pray specifically each day.