I recently reviewed a paperback on the topic of prayer for the BWM Facebook page: World Prayer – Powerful Insights from Four Mighty Men of Prayer. I would here pull a few thoughts out of that text…concerning how to pray for a missionary. While reading this compilation on prayer, I was exposed to a concept I had never considered in thirty-five years of missionary service—that a vital part of praying for a missionary (fairly “common stuff”) should be to pray for that missionary’s own prayer life. No Christian servant would deny the critical importance to “pray without ceasing” as they serve Christ. This task assumes an even higher importance when dealing with reaching souls and establishing local churches in the midst of enemy (Satan’s) territory with its accompanying language learning, cultural adjustments, logistics of simply living, and a host of other challenges related to the missionary task. Why should not those who are praying for this church planter also pray that his prayers themselves be what they need to be? For example: a missionary must be a practitioner of prayer, not simply counting on his supporters and prayer partners to do the praying; a missionary’s prayers must be in harmony with God’s will; they ought be expressions of heartfelt gratitude and worship; they must reflect an absolute dependence on God; their prayers will include pleading to God for the provision and use of Scriptural weaponry; their times of prayer will be rich and sweet fellowship with God; that the missionary asks God to keep his focus on Christ, asking the Lord to provide divine unity and blessing which can never result from watching other servants; that this missionary will plead with the Lord regularly for a consistent and genuine LOVE for the people he is seeking to reach. So much more could be said, but space is limited.
by Steve Anderson, BWM Field Administrator
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