The article “Why North Korean Christians Pray for You,” published by Open Doors, offers a profound glimpse into the spiritual resilience of believers in one of the most oppressive regimes on earth. North Korean Christians, who face unimaginable risks—imprisonment, torture, and even execution—for their faith, are not only enduring persecution but actively interceding for others, including those in nations where religious freedom is protected. This radical obedience to Christ’s command to “pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44, NKJV) reflects a depth of faith that transcends circumstances and embodies the countercultural heart of the Gospel. Their prayers, whispered in secret and lifted at great cost, echo the apostolic exhortation to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2, NKJV), and they invite the global church to reconsider what it means to live—and pray—as citizens of God’s Kingdom.
The biblical narrative is replete with examples of God’s people praying not only for deliverance from suffering but amid suffering, often for the very ones inflicting their pain. When Jesus hung on the cross, His plea for His executioners—“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34, NKJV)—established a paradigm for Christian intercession. The North Korean church, though shrouded in secrecy, follows this pattern. Their prayers for believers worldwide, including those in relative safety, mirror the apostle Paul’s prayers for the early church, which often centered not on his own chains but on the spiritual maturity of others: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:16, NKJV). This selflessness is born of a theology that sees prayer not as a transactional plea for personal comfort but as participation in Christ’s redemptive work. For these believers, intercession is an act of defiance against the kingdom of darkness, a declaration that their ultimate allegiance lies not with the regime that threatens their bodies but with the Savior who has secured their souls.
The persecuted church’s prayers also reflect a profound understanding of the Body of Christ as a unified, global family. Paul’s metaphor of the church as one body—“if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26, NKJV)—takes on visceral urgency in the context of North Korea. When believers there pray for their brothers and sisters abroad, they embody the mutual dependence and shared burden that Scripture demands. Their intercession is a rebuke to the individualism that often pervades faith in free societies, where prayer can devolve into a private wish list rather than a communal lifeline. The North Korean church’s solidarity with believers worldwide mirrors the Macedonian churches, who “implored [Paul] with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of ministering to the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:4, NKJV) despite their own poverty. In praying for others, these persecuted saints reject the lie that their suffering renders them powerless; instead, they wield spiritual authority through Christ, who “ever lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25, NKJV) for His people.
This perspective is rooted in the eschatological hope that anchors all Christian endurance. North Korean believers, like the first-century martyrs, understand that their present afflictions are “not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, NKJV). Their prayers are infused with the certainty that the same God who sustained Daniel in the lions’ den and Paul in prison is with them in their hidden rooms. Their faith echoes Job’s cry: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15, NKJV), and their intercession arises from a conviction that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16, NKJV), even when uttered in darkness. Their petitions for the global church—for boldness, purity, and unwavering witness—are not passive resignation but active warfare, aligning with Paul’s call to “pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18, NKJV). In praying for others, they participate in the eternal purposes of God, knowing that their labors in Christ are never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Yet their prayers also carry a sobering challenge to believers in free nations. While many Christians in the West pray for deliverance from minor inconveniences, North Korean believers intercede for spiritual riches amidst material poverty. Their faithfulness calls to mind the church of Smyrna, which Christ commended as “rich” while enduring “tribulation and poverty” (Revelation 2:9, NKJV). Their example invites reflection on Jesus’ warning against “the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22, NKJV) that choke spiritual vitality. When North Korean Christians pray for their free counterparts, they likely plead, as Christ did for Peter, that their faith “should not fail” (Luke 22:32, NKJV) in the face of subtler dangers: complacency, compromise, and lukewarm devotion. Their prayers are a mirror held up to the global church, exposing the cost of discipleship and the urgency of Paul’s charge: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2, NKJV).
Ultimately, the prayers of North Korean believers testify to the paradoxical power of the Gospel: that those the world considers weak are “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10, NKJV). Their intercession is a living parable of Christ’s words: “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25, NKJV). In praying for others, they find purpose in their pain, embodying the truth that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed” (Romans 8:18, NKJV). Their hidden faithfulness stands as a beacon to the church worldwide, urging us to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, NKJV)—not because circumstances are good, but because God is.
The North Korean church’s prayers, offered in defiance of tyranny and in solidarity with the global Body of Christ, are a fragrant offering to the Lord (Revelation 5:8). They remind us that persecution cannot extinguish the light of the Gospel, for “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5, NKJV). As we receive their intercession, may we respond by lifting our voices for them, knowing that “he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1, NKJV). May their example stir us to pray with greater fervor, live with greater boldness, and hold fast to the hope that one day, “every knee shall bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10–11, NKJV)—even in North Korea.
Removing the Veil Ministries 