Missions: Pray
Part 4 | Return to Missions
We continue to meditate on God's missional pattern to reconcile and restore all of creation, and how we are invited to participate with Jesus in crossing cultural barriers.
Prayer as a profound invitation
Has anyone ever heard someone say, “I’ll keep you in my prayers”? Underneath this phrase is some sentiment of hope that something will change or happen for the other person. For followers of Jesus, prayer is more than words of wishful thinking. The wonder of prayer is God acting on earth in response to conversation with a human being. The bible tells the story of God partnering with humans in stewarding his creation – things happen when we pray that wouldn’t if we didn’t pray. Through prayer, we relationally partner with God to see His kingdom come and his will be done.
Jesus invites us to pray
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he 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.” (Matthew 9:36-38)
Jesus invites us to participate in the work of restoring the lost to himself through prayer. The motive behind this invitation to prayer is love for the other. Whether you are a college student, pastor, doctor, business owner, or teacher, we can participate in seeing God’s kingdom come in the lives around us and all over the world. When we pray for missionaries, we partner with them in their work.
We see a glimpse of participation in mission through Paul’s letters, where he expresses his certainty of the consequences of others’ prayers:
“...for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (Phil 1:19)
What could happen in the lives and world around us if we became people who prayed into God’s kingdom coming? What could happen in and through missions in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth if we were to partner with God through prayer?
But what are we to pray?
When we don’t know what to pray, we look to the words given to us in scripture from Jesus to pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Pray that God’s Kingdom would come in someone else’s life or amongst a community. Pray for God’s deliverance, healing, and provision.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Ask God to send someone to minister to someone else or a group of people.
Reflection questions
Have you ever experienced a time where you experienced the fruit of prayer?
Who in your “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria” is God inviting you to pray for on a regular basis?
Who or where is God inviting to pray for on a regular basis that is in “the ends of the earth”?
What might be one step for you to establish a rhythm of praying for these individuals/groups?
Part 4 | Return to Missions