If you partner with Jenn and I you will more than likely have heard us say how important prayer is for us as missionaries. We most definitely need your financial support but we also need your prayer support. Without a solid prayer backing we or any other missionaries going out are missing a crucial part in Stateside support. With this in mind I wanted to share with you 10 ways that you can pray for the missionaries you support. This list is from Pastor Dennis Leatherman, but I thought it would be good to share.
1. Pray that they will have boldness.
This was the prayer of the N.T. church (Acts4:29-31). The world is increasingly more hostile to Biblical Christianity and boldness is a must in all missionaries.
2. Pray for their marriages & families.
Satan attacks the missionary's home and marriage. If the marriage fails, the ministry fails. Many missionaries have had to come off the field because of the breakdown of their marriage. Pray that they stay close to each other in their financial and ministry struggles.
3. Pray for their health.
On the foreign field there are many health hazards; the strain of travel, long days and exposure to different parts of the country an breakdown their health.
4. Pray for their safety.
The highways in the USA & around the world can be dangerous places. Some mission fields have their own unique dangers, such as excessively high crime, war, poor law enforcement, etc.
5. Pray for open doors of ministry.
Christian service is a spiritual warfare, and no where is this more evident than on the mission field. All the money, organization, and boldness in the world cannot breakdown spiritual strongholds in the nations of the world. We need God to open doors to closed countries and new ministries.
6. Pray for co-laborers for your missionaries.
Our Lord stated very clearly "the harvest is great, but the laborers are few." His immediate solution to the need of laborers was, "pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into the harvest." Your missionaries need helpers. Helpers from the States to join them and national helpers to be raised up and trained on the field. Along these lines, pray for a kindred spirit to be developed within the team on the field, that they can work together with united hearts and minds.
7. Pray for the spiritual well being of your missionaries.
Pray they maintain intimate daily devotions with the Lord, that their prayer life remains vibrant, that the world will lose it's attraction to their flesh, and that they stay strongly in love with their Lord.
8. Pray for the financial needs of your missionaries.
Fluctuating exchange rates and churches changing leadership or philosophy & dropping missionaries can have a devastating effect on their finances. Not to mention additional children being born into the family, and the continual cost of living increases.
9. Pray for souls to be saved, self-sustaining churches to be established, Scriptures to be translated into native tongues, and nationals to be trained.
To see these results, it requires earnest, diligent prayers of righteous men and women, here at home and on the field.
10. Pray for the missionaries faithfulness.
The ministry can be very difficult, especially on certain mission fields. The temptation to quit can be very real. Sometimes, with few other Christians near and a lack of accountability, it may be tempting to just "coast" in the work. But it is required of stewards that they be faithful. Though often their reasons are legitimate, there are too many missionaries that surrender then quit before they ever get to the field, or get to the field and then return home shortly thereafter. They need your earnest and sincere prayers.
Often times people find it hard to pray for their missionaries, and one of the main reasons is because they don't know what to pray about. We hope this list gives you a starting point to pray, and sparks other ideas of what to pray for your missionaries.
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