March 21, 2018 – Please pray for Greece
Greece historically also known as Hellas, is a country in Southern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation’s capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa and is an ancient city in the early church.
The Greek Constitution recognizes Eastern Orthodoxy as the “prevailing” faith of the country, while guaranteeing freedom of religious belief for all. According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 97% of Greek citizens identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, which uses the Byzantine rite and the Greek language, the original language of the New Testament.
According to a 2010 poll, 79% of Greek citizens responded that they “believe there is a God”. According to other sources, 15.8% of Greeks describe themselves as “very religious”, which is the highest among all European countries. The survey also found that just 3.5% never attend a church, compared to 4.9% in Poland and 59.1% in the Czech Republic.
Judaism has been present in Greece for more than 2,000 years. The ancient Greek Jewish community is called Romaniotes, while the Sephardi Jews were once a prominent community in the city of Thessaloniki.
Protestants, including the Greek Evangelical Church and Free Evangelical Churches, stand at about 30,000. Other Christian minorities, such as Assemblies of God, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and various Pentecostal churches of the Greek Synod of Apostolic Church total about 12,000 members. The independent Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost is the biggest Protestant denomination in Greece with 120 churches. There are no official statistics about Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, but the Orthodox Church estimates the followers as 20,000.
The above are from en.wikipedia.org. These statements have not been fact-checked and are only used here to help us gain a better understanding of this nation.
I call your attention to the religious organizations within Greece so we may pray for the various groups within the nation. In general, Europe is very irreligious. This should stir our spirit to pray for Europe as we should our nation. People will claim Christianity when they really do not understand the basic truths of the Bible. Prayer is often all we can do for a nation.
As I continue to share, I ask you today to pray for Greece. God continues to burden my heart for the nations of the world and the importance for prayer. A call to prayer streams from the heart of God. “You have not because you do not ask,” should remind us to prayer for all humanity. Revival is birthed in prayer.
Not only are we are called to pray for the nations, we must pray for individuals – specific individuals. Remember, prayer warriors don’t need a lot of information – they already know prayers guided by the Holy Spirit are distinctly different from ordinary prayers and are like arrows into the enemy’s camp. Prayers protect the family of God.
To this end, I purposely limited what I share in order that time not is wasted in reading facts and figures. I simply request those who pray for the nations and to spend quality time in pray for Greece.
As we read, there are a likely a significant number of Christians within Greece. Let us pray together for their strength to grow and their influence will be enlarged.
1. Pray for the youth of this nation. I continue to believe this age group is where revival is going to emerge to affect the nations.
2. Pray for the spiritual leaders of the churches and within the government.
3. Pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to bless and that the nation will be a light to the world in Europe.
