Prayer

Prayer and World Evangelization | Guilt - is that what prayer is? |

How to pray for missionaries

Prayer is at the heart of WEC’s work around the world.

We have a number of resources to fuel and inform prayer for what God is doing in the world through WEC and beyond.

For country/region specific prayer information choose a country or team from our Information Sheets.

We produce a monthly prayer guide with current prayer points for Kiwi WECers. You can subscribe to this or alternatively download this month’s prayer guide.

Our 2010 30 Day Prayer Guide is available for download (1.89MB).  This great resource leads you all around the world with WEC and guides you in strategic prayer for the nations and the people working there.  It also includes a short devotional thought for each day.

You will find other useful tools to inspire and direct your prayers in our Resources section.  Here you will find the Briefings series which are a range of booklets covering various regions of the world; they are easy-to-read relatively brief big picture prayer guides.  You will also find the excellent Operation World and the children’s version Window on the World.

If you’d like some ideas on   how to pray for missionaries see our suggestions below. 

Prayer and World Evangelisation

An excerpt by WECer Patrick Johnstone, taken from the 21st Century Edition of Operation World...

"How can we weak, frail, puny creatures speak to our omnipotent Creator to make a difference to our world?  It is a breath-taking mystery.  A picture comes to mind of a strange European custom at the launch of a hip.  Some VIP is invited to “launch” a ship.  The mighty ship lies on its slipway where it was constructed awaiting the VIP to break a bottle of wine on its bows and give it the name it will bear.  Once done the ropes and cables restraining the ship are loosed by unseen hands and the ship majestically slides off to begin its career in the water.  There are similarities to intercession.  The proclamation of the ship’s name by the VIP is an important action, but the ship could be launched without it.  It is a mystery that our loving Father has somehow limited His omnipotence to teaming up with His redeemed people so that His actions in the world are inextricably linked with prayer.

Hans von Staden, the man of God used to instigate and name Operation World, often quoted these words:

                                                "When man prays, man works;
                                                 when man prays, God works."

…The ministry of the children of God is not doing but praying, not strategizing, but prostrate before God seeking His will, not clever stratagems for manipulating people and events but trusting in God who moves in the hearts of even His most implacable enemies.  Through prayer Nebuchadnezzar and today’s dictators got converted, Manassah’s and today’s persecutors repent and kingdoms of Babylon and Iron Curtains are torn down.  We do not engage in ministry from which all ministries must flow.

Psalm 2 reveals the Father’s Great Commission to His Son and how the destiny of the nations is tied in with their rejection of or submission to His Kingly Son.  Look at the command and promises of Ps. 2:8.

                                      "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage;
                                      and the ends of the earth your possession.
                                      You shall break them with a rod of iron,
                                      and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel."

Surely this was very much in the forefront in Jesus’ prayer life when He was offered the kingdoms of this world by Satan and when He approached His crucifixion.  Only this gave meaning to the immense sacrifice He was to make for the redemption of the nations.  He asked for them and is now receiving the reward for His sufferings as millions become part of His church from every nation and nearly every people on earth.  He will soon also mete out stern but just judgment on those who rejected Him.

Dare we apply this command and these promises to ourselves?  We can and for this we have Scriptural warrant.  John wrote these astonishing words to the Church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:26:

                                         "He who conquers and keeps my words to the end,
                                         I will give him power over the nations,
                                         and he shall rule them with a rod of iron,
                                         as when earthen pots are broken in pieces."

John applies the more unlikely section of the Psalm 2 passage to believers.  The power over the nations is not that of the Constantinian distortion of Christianity where politics and human armaments became the preferred weapons of the Church but rather that of reigning with Christ in the Heavenlies as intercessor-rulers who impact world.

Prayer not only changes people, situations and even the course of history, but also those who pray!  It is dangerous for the enemy and also ‘dangerous’ for you.  There is a price to pay to be a person who stands in the gap between fallen man and a righteous God.  That price may mean becoming an answer to your own prayers in giving time, finances and even going out as witness in your Jerusalem (where you now live), (your own country), your Samaria (the other ethnic groups in your own country) or even to the ends of the earth…"

Patrick Johnstone
Operation World
21st Century Edition  

Guilt - is that what prayer is?

If you want to see churches planting churches planting churches until the whole earth is filled to overflowing with the wonder and excitement of God, you have to pray.

I knew there was a catch somewhere. I can see it now, endless nights of shopping-list prayers; burdens that never lift; guilt, guilt, guilt because I can never pray enough. Is that what prayer is, especially intercessory prayer?

Prayer is having a heart that beats in unison with God’s

God has made each of us unique. If you think of a diamond, each facet can blaze with a completely different colour and intensity, yet together they display a constantly changing, wondrous reality which is sourced from one white light.

When my heart beats in sync with God’s, I sing or dance or create multimedia experiences. For a close friend of mine, praying is serving. For another friend, ecstasy and intimacy with God is found in quietness. For another, it is found in noisy conversation.

Let’s uncover the diamonds!

Let’s tap into God’s heart and let His glory blaze.

This is the kind of praying we need to foster if we want to see churches planted. Experiment with different ways of praying. Follow your (collective) heart as you get in touch with God’s heart.

When we teach about church planting among the unreached we stress the need for MEGA prayer. There are only two ways to ‘do’ mega-prayer:       

 1.  getting mega numbers of people to pray, and

 2.  getting in heart-to-heart touch with our mega God.

 Then His mega-heart can be expressed through us (Romans 8:26-27).

Evelyn Hibbert - article first published in the Worldwide magazine.

How to pray for missionaries 

It may help you as you come to pray to remember that missionaries are not very different from you or anyone else you know.  In spite of the tendency to lift missionaries onto a pedestal, anyone who knows them personally will confirm their shared humanness… their shared interests, aspirations, anxieties and dreams…as well as the same struggles, fears and periodic bad attitudes!

The one significant difference is of course their distance from “home” and from familiar culture and trusted supports.  This situation creates challenges and needs particular to their context.

With this in mind we suggest the following as guidelines for your prayers:

Personal - remember that the missionary is likely similar to you in their areas of personal need.  Pray that they:

• Maintain a strong devotional life, ensuring time in Scripture and for prayer each day – in spite of often demanding schedules.
• Take care of themselves physically, including exercise, a healthy diet and enough sleep.
• Deal honestly and thoroughly with negative emotions and relational issues.
• Will be daily filled with the Holy Spirit and that their God-given vision will be kept alive.
• Will be protected against temptation, Satan’s deception and from enemies.
• Will know God’s provision in every area of their lives including the financial.

Family - concern for children and parents are universal however distant, cross-cultural ministry can challenge on both scores.  Pray that:

• Marrieds will maintain strong marriages and create space to invest in their relationship amidst usually busy days and stretching cultural settings.
• Parents will know wisdom in choosing educational options for their children and as they support and assist their learning.
• Parents will parent well and raise their children see the positive in both their home and adopted cultures.  May the parents’ lives and ministries lead their children to love God and aspire to also serve Him (and not to lose faith on account of parents’ wrong priorities and poor example etc.)
• Children will adjust well to the comings and goings associated with missionary life and maximize the potential of such an “alternative” experience.
• Single missio’s will know special grace for the challenges of loneliness and the misunderstandings they face in cultures where to be unmarried is very unusual.
• They will fulfill their responsibilities towards aging parents (that they will know guidance in discerning just what that is in their situation) and be able to trust God with their concerns and fears regarding them.

Ministry – that's why they’re there! Pray that:

• They will successfully build relationships of trust and understanding across cultures… both with the national people and missionaries of other cultures also.
• They will boldly and effectively proclaim the Gospel in word and in action.
• They will be fruitful…people coming to Christ and churches being planted – needs being met, freedom encountered, and injustice overturned.
• God will grant them favour amongst their co-workers, believers and local people.
• God would breakdown the spiritual strongholds in peoples’ lives and reveal Himself to them.

• God will lead the missio’s to people of peace… 

"As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you."   

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (Today's NIV)