This is a personal request — one that I would not typically make.
You see, over the past couple of months, one of my closest confidants has unceasingly admonished me. His admonition? That I humbly ask for support — through the daily prayer of others.
As such, I’d simply like to ask you to pray for me.
Please understand. It’s not in my nature to make such a request.
But I care deeply about the work of the Christian Research Institute. And as the leader of this ministry, I understand the reality of spiritual warfare — a reality that can only truly be confronted through prayer.
By any measure, I’m in the last quarter of my life. And I sincerely believe that the Lord has been preparing me to make the years I have left the most significant years of my life in ministry.
Simply put, my love of Truth has never been stronger.
Vladimir Lossky said it best: “Outside the truth kept by the whole Church, personal experience would be deprived of all certainty, of all objectivity. It would be a mingling of truth and falsehood, of reality and of illusion.”
Moreover, “Christian theology is always in the last resort a means: a unity of knowledge subserving an end which transcends all knowledge. This ultimate end is union with God.”
There can be no life without truth.
And above all, no truth without life.
Prayer characterized the life of Christ. In like fashion it must characterize the lives of those who sincerely desire to become Christlike.
Since Saint Paul was not timid in asking for prayer, I feel it is fitting for me to do so as well:
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me,
that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known
the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may
declare it fearlessly, as I should. —Ephesians 6:18–20
As a reminder to pray for me, I would like to send you a cross — a “holding cross” made in South Asia by fellow believers who often suffer persecution for their faith.
This cross has been helpful in the prayer lives
of countless Christians around the world.
It is a plain — yet profound — wooden cross
that fits in the palm of your hand as you pray.
As Christians experience increased persecution at home and abroad, may this cross remind you of the power of Christ’s resurrection. A power not only to face trials and tribulations, but to triumph over them in His name.
In sum, all I have written thus far boils down to a simple request for your daily prayer on my behalf. Specifically, for prayer in five areas — one for each finger of your hand as you carry your cross.
1. Pray for the ministry of CRI — and everything that my role as its leader entails.
2. Pray for protection — not only for me, but for my family and the team that faithfully serves
alongside me.
3. Pray for anointing — that I might persuasively communicate the truth and life of the gospel.
4. Pray for favor — that the grace of God would aid CRI’s global outreaches, expose the existential emptiness of the secular materialist road toward dystopia, and reveal the sacred reality that God has filled the world with His presence through the Incarnation of Christ.
5. Pray for fruitfulness — in all of CRI’s 24/7 outreaches, both here at home and abroad
In closing, I would like to make one final request. If you feel led to pray for me, please let me know.
I deeply appreciate your encouragement and I thank God for your continued support.
Glory to God—In All Things,
President
P.S. I would be remiss in the context of this urgent request for prayer if I did not acknowledge with much gratitude prayers on my behalf during my seven-year battle with cancer. I am now approaching my fifth year of being cancer free. I thank God. And I thank you.