When people hear I work with Open Doors to serve Christians facing persecution around the world, they’ll often ask if there’s anything they can do besides “just” pray. It seems like they feel praying isn’t actually doing very much, especially since many persecuted Christians are victims of brutal governments, long-running terrorist groups, and culturally embedded extremism. Prayer may seem ineffective when we’re praying for an unjust regime to change, or for the hearts of Islamic militants to change — but our brothers and sisters around the world will tell you to never stop praying, even when it feels hopeless.

Persecuted believers attest that prayer is the most important thing we can do, and that it truly does make a difference. That’s probably why it’s always the No. 1 thing persecuted Christians ask for.

Power of Global Prayer

In fact, we have seen the power of global prayer play out quite recently in India, where believers were gravely concerned that this year’s elections could empower the Hindu nationalist government to expand their attacks on minority religions like Christianity. Open Doors asked believers all over the world to pray about India’s elections, that the results promote religious freedom and allow God’s people to worship openly and without fear.

And something incredible happened. As the largest election in human history, it took six weeks to finish the voting and then an additional several days for the votes to be fully counted. There were 960 million eligible voters — more than 10% of the global population.

The results of the election were released on June 4, and the world was shocked!

Going into the elections, it was expected that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would once again secure the majority. This likely would have led to growing Hindu nationalism, and perhaps even establishment of a national anticonversion law, further increasing Christian persecution in India, which already ranks No. 10 on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List — the annual ranking of the 50 countries where it’s most difficult to follow Jesus.

However, once all the votes were counted, the BJP did not receive an outright majority and was forced to form a coalition government. So, although Prime Minister Modi is now serving an unprecedented third term, he will do so alongside other political parties who do not support Hindu nationalism. The hope is that this will curb some of the extremism that has often flourished during the BJP’s time in power. For India’s Christians, it means a real hope that things like anticonversion laws and Hindu nationalist policies may be slowed!

Local Believers Encouraged

Christians in India will now have a better chance to raise their voices to protest violations of their rights — and to live peacefully as salt and light in their communities. While conditions may not change quickly or drastically, local believers are encouraged that they’ll have a better chance of being heard by their elected leaders. 

As one Indian pastor shared, he sees the election results as a fulfillment of God’s Word in Daniel 2:21: “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”

After seeing the election outcome, I was reminded that our prayers truly are important to the global Body of Christ. They can affect change, and persecuted believers around the world are encouraged and filled with hope when they know we are praying for them. Through their testimonies, we see that prayer is faith in action!

So, let’s change how we talk and approach “just” praying, and let’s remember to pray big prayers. As Ephesians teaches us, “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).

Ryan Brown serves as president and CEO of Open Doors US, one of 25 national Open Doors International (ODI) bases located around the world. Founded in 1955, Open Doors has continued to serve persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries, and is known for its annual World Watch List, the ranking of the top 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.