Has your church or faith community been talking this month about the plight of the persecuted Christian church around the world? The first two Sundays of November have been set aside as special days on which to pray for Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs.

If the struggles of the persecuted church have been weighing on your mind and heart lately, you might be interested in a devotional here at Bible Gateway that is focused on the persecuted church: Standing Strong Through the Storm. Standing Strong Through the Storm is a daily devotional that highlights true stories about believers who held to their faith even in the face of suffering.

Despite the grim topic of the devotional, Standing Strong Through the Storm is actually one of the most inspiring devotionals in our library. These aren’t just stories of misery and suffering; they’re tales of courage and faith that hold up under fire. It makes for inspiring devotional reading, but it’s also a good way to increase your awareness of the persecuted church, and it’s a daily source of ideas to pray about.

So, while the persecuted church is on our collective minds this month, take a look at Standing Strong Through the Storm! As with most of our devotionals and reading plans, you can read it online or subscribe to receive it via email. (Here’s a step-by-step guide to subscribing to a devotional on Bible Gateway.)

On a similar topic, you might also want to see the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, also in our devotional library. While that devotional isn’t only about persecution, it’s written very much with the suffering church in mind, as Bonhoeffer himself was murdered by the Nazis for resisting Hitler’s regime. Each of the 40 daily readings will challenge you to build up a faith strong enough to stand up to persecution.

Pictured: Paolo Uccello’s depiction of the stoning of Saint Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr; and 20th century martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer.