The Mission and Prayer

Last month, we looked at many statistics about the Mission in present day. It is amazing how the Mission has spread and is continuing to spread throughout the world. But these facts and figures can be overwhelming, especially when there is so much more work to do.

As we have discussed before, the Mission is a task of the entire Church. This is a theological principle set in place by Jesus Himself in the book of Matthew. It is time to be a part of the Mission.

You can begin at this very moment.

How? Jesus gave us a great place to begin in Matthew 9:37-38. It says, “Then He (Jesus) said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.””

Biblical and historical evidence shows us that prayer has always been a part of the Mission. Prayer is a central part of the Christian’s life, and it directly influences the Mission that we have been given. Jesus tells us specially to pray for the workers! You can partner with God and begin praying right now that God will begin sending out harvesters. It is simple but a powerful and essential part of the Mission.

The Persecuted Church Prayer Devotional

Beverly J. Pegues provides a great resource in interceding for the suffering church around the globe. Her book outlines over 65 countries and areas around the world in which Christians face persecution in various forms. The goal of the book is to provide a profile on each country and specific prayer points for the Church to intercede on behalf of their brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe.

The Jesus Fast

Lou Engle calls for a worldwide prayer revolution to be unleased based on the call established in Matthew 9:38 which states, "Beg the Lord of the Harvest to hurl forth laborers into the Harvest field."

Prayer: The Work of Missions

"In order to mobilize a movement of prayer in the church and in order to sustain a will to pray in our hearts, we must think and talk about other things besides prayer. This is the key lesson I have learned in recent years.

1. We must talk first about war. Because life is war. And it is utterly impossible for people to know what prayer really is until they know that they are in a war, and until they know that the stakes of that war are infinitely higher than the stakes in the Persian Gulf or in the Reagan-Gorbachev consultations.

2. We must talk about the Sovereignty of God. Because only from this great truth can we know that we will win the war. And only then will we have hope and strength to press on in a life of prayer.

3. Then, when we have spoken first about the war we are in and next about the sovereignty of God, then we can come to what I will call the awesome place of prayer in God's purposes for the world.

Now let me try to sketch what I think needs to be said in these three areas - war, the Sovereignty of God, and the awesome place of prayer in God's purposes for the world."

-John Piper, ACMC Annual Meeting of 1988

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