LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY: THY WILL BE DONE
God is inviting us to be his partner in missions today. Our kind words and good works will help connect us with people. But in the final analysis, changing lives is spiritual work. That could only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The moving of the Spirit is God at work. Prayer is God’s people at work. In prayer, we join God in His work.
Hudson Taylor said, “When I get to China, I will have no claim on anyone for anything. My claim will be alone in God, and I must learn before I leave England to move men through God by prayer alone.” During his 50 years of service among the Chinese people, it was said that the sun never rose in China without finding Hudson Taylor on his knees.
We Do Not Need to be Spiritual Giants. Prayer is powerful because of the One we pray to. The source of power lies with God. But He chooses to work through His people’s prayers.
It is often said that the Book of Acts is very much the Acts of the Holy Spirit. The birth of missions began at Pentecost with the Spirit’s outpouring when the disciples gathered to pray. And prayer was mentioned 31 times in Acts, in almost every chapter. Things happen when God’s people pray.
We Can Be Sure That Our Prayers Will Be Answered. On the night that our Lord was betrayed, He knew the disciples would soon be facing challenges that could crush them. Before He prayed for them in John 17, He gave them important instructions in Jn. 14-16 where He repeated six times the promise that God would do whatever they asked in His name (Jn. 14:13-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23-24).
After years of faithful ministry, the Apostle John no doubt experienced many answered prayers. So, he passed on the Lord’s promise to his spiritual children: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 Jn. 5:14)
Today, 2,000 years later, we can be sure that we are asking according to God’s will when we follow the Lord’s instructions:
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’” (Mt. 6:9-10)
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Mt. 9:38)
The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more compassion and caring, ... that there will be more togetherness in God’s world.”
Let us pray for more workers to be sent out so the gospel of peace will reach the world, one person, one family, and one community at a time. God’s name will be honored when there is justice and peace when men and women reconcile with Him and with one another.
Join Us In Prayer. We invite you to join the GLS network of intercessors. To receive our Prayer Minute Emails M-W-F or once a week, contact us at prminute@gmail.com. Take 5 minutes each day to pray for the family, work, and ministry of one of our tentmakers or a project for missions.
Pray for the missionaries you know and those supported by your church.
Pray God’s Kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Together, let us witness how God fulfills the 1 Jn. 5:14 promise in our generation.
References:
A Joint Venture: Prayer, Revival and Missions Go Together – or Not at All https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/joint-venture
The Evangelical Revival in Britain: The Foundation of the Church Missionary Society and its Early Work in the Muslim World https://saudijournals.com/media/articles/SJHSS_410_665-673_cc.pdf
The Story of the Student Volunteer Movement https://campusministry.org/article/the-story-of-the-student-volunteer-movement