Prayer may be the most powerful thing we can do as believers, and certainly one way everyone can participate in missions. Oswald Chambers said, “The real business of your life as a saved soul is intercessory prayer.” John D. Robb wrote specifically of praying for missions, “World evangelization is an issue to be decided by spiritual power, the power of the Holy Spirit released in response to the prayers of His people.” As children of the King we need to participate in Kingdom work through regular intercessory prayer. Here are a few ways to get started.
Jesus told his disciples in Luke 10:2 to, “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.” This is a prayer we can all pray. There is a prayer movement around the word that takes place twice a day at 10:02 am and 10:02 pm in every time zone. It is a simple prayer asking God to raise up more missionaries to answer the call to, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Set your phone alarm to 10:02 as a reminder of Jesus’ command in Luke 10:2, and join the movement.
Paul in his letter to the Colossians concluded by asking them to, “Pray that God may open a door for our message." Take some time and identify a specific area that is resistant to the gospel, or a specific people group that is unreached, and pray that the Holy Spirit would open doors for workers in that area. John D. Robb writes, “Are unreached peoples resistant to the gospel, or has so little prayer gone up for them that they are effectively held in check by the enemy?”
Lastly, we can pray as Paul asked the church in Ephesus to pray for him. “Pray for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Our missionaries are often serving in areas that require boldness to speak the Good News. The Gospel is shared at great risk in many areas around the world. It takes courage. Paul counted on the prayers of the saints for boldness and strength in taking ground for the Kingdom.
Disciple making movements have always been preceded by movements of prayer. The book of Acts gives overwhelming testimony of the early church praying prior to miraculous Kingdom expansion (Acts 1:14, 6:4, 13:1-3, 16:25). The Apostle Peter calls believers, “A chosen people, a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Just as the old Testament priests interceded regularly for the Israelites, we are to regularly intercede for the lost and those working among them. Because of the atonement of Jesus, we have this right as a royal priesthood to pray. Let’s use it strategically for the Kingdom.