Prayer meetings in the U.S. often focus on illnesses and requests for healing. Not so elsewhere.

I asked a man who visits unregistered house churches in China whether Christians there pray for a change in harsh government policies. After thinking for a moment, he replied that not once had he heard a Chinese Christian pray for relief. “They assume they’ll face opposition,” he said. “They can’t imagine anything else.” He then gave some examples.

One pastor had served a term of twenty-seven years at hard labour for holding unauthorized church meetings. When he emerged from prison and returned to church, he thanked the congregation for praying. Assigned a dangerous prison job, he had managed to couple together one million railroad cars without an injury. “God answered your prayers for my safety!” He proudly announced.

Another imprisoned pastor heard that his wife was going blind. Desperate to rejoin her, he informed the warden that he was renouncing his faith. He was released, but soon felt so guilty that he turned himself in again to the police. He spent the next thirty years in prison.

Yancey, Philip. Rumours of Another World”. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003, p. 212-213.