Savannah Christian Missions: Prayer

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Download a 2010 Faith Promise prayer guide

Praying for the Persecuted Church

Pray:
     …that believers will stand firm in their faith. (1 Peter 5:8-10)
     …that they will not fear but trust God. (Revelation 2:10)
     …that they would not seek to retaliate, but entrust justice to Him. (1 Peter 2:23)
     …that they will not repay evil for evil but will seek to live in peace. (Romans 12:17-18)
     …that they will not take revenge, but leave that completely with God. (Romans 12:17-21)
     …that they will be enabled to rejoice, even in suffering. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
     …that they will forgive those who persecute them. (Luke 23:34, Colossians 3:13)
     …that they would be able to actually love their enemies. (Matthew 5:43-44)
     …that they will bless those who have persecuted them. (Romans 12:14, 21)
     …that they will persevere under tribulation. (Hebrews 10:32-39)
     …that they will trust God to help them proclaim the Gospel while suffering. (2 Timothy 4:16-18)
     …that they will keep their eyes on Jesus, and not grow weary or lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
     …that they will rely on the Lord’s strength and not on their own. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
     …not that you take them out of the world, but protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15)

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Effective Prayer

By John Godson

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35).

Prayer is communion with God. It is that act of going into God’s presence to be with him. It is bringing God and his resources into our earthly realities. It is drawing upon divine resources to influence human reality. It is breathing the breath of heaven. It is the master key to everything we have been called to do. Without prayer, our activities are empty, human and lack the breath of heaven. They are temporal and will never last. In looking at the life of Jesus, I see a man who prays. If there is an aspect of his life that seems so conspicuous to me, it is his prayer life. It was his habitual practice to wake up early in the morning before day to go to a quiet place to pray. Often, he would depart from the people he was ministering to, and go to a quiet place to pray. Many times he spent all night in prayer. What is this thing called prayer that Jesus loved to do so often? What is in prayer that is so important that Jesus, the Son of God, spent a large portion of his life doing and encouraging his disciples to do? If Jesus, being whom he was, needed to spend so much time in prayer, do we not need to spend even much more time than Jesus in prayer? Why is prayer so important?
1. We get to know God through prayer. One of the most important reasons why we need to pray is that we get to know God better through prayer. Prayer is communion with God. Those who know God better are those who spend quality time in his presence. These are individuals who know the secrets and the heartbeat of God. It is not possible to know God when we are occasional visitors into God’s presence. It is not possible to know God if we are the type of Christian who just pops into God’s presence to say “hi” and “goodbye.” We cannot get to know God if we are the type of Christians who treat God as a “fire extinguisher,” using God for our ends. God reveals himself to those who really care; to those who are willing to pay the price of separating themselves often and long in order to seek him. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13).
2. We are empowered through prayer. Prayer is like charging your spiritual batteries. Many of you use a mobile phone. What happens to it if you continue using it and never charge it? The answer is obvious. The battery will run down and sooner or later the phone will stop functioning until it is adequately and fully charged. No matter how good or modern a mobile phone may be, it is useless unless it is charged. In the same way, we cannot afford not to pray. God renews our strength when we pray. No matter how strong or gifted you are, if you do not pray, you are on your way to death, destruction and irrelevance. No matter how large and demanding our ministry is, we should spend enough and adequate time in prayer. The task that has been committed to us by God can only be fulfilled by people who are constantly filled with spiritual life.
3. Prayer makes us dangerous for the devil and for the kingdom of darkness. There is nothing that is as dangerous to the devil as a Christian who prays. The devil will not bother with Christians who are lukewarm, prayerless and banal. They pose no threat to him. Praying Christians are the greatest dangers to the kingdom of hell. And the devil will do everything in his power to stop you or discourage you from praying. The devil loves those Christians who are too busy to pray. He hates those Christians who make time to immerse themselves in God’s presence. These are his greatest threats. Their presence cast out demons. Their words are like fire. They change spiritual realities around them because they pray.
4. Prayer changes us. Prayer not only changes situations and circumstances, but one of the most important reasons we need to pray is that God changes us in prayer. Jacob was a cheat and a deceiver and it was not until he really began to pray that God changed him. He was so afraid of meeting his brother Esau that he decided to set time aside to pray. He prayed all night and came out a different man. His name changed from Jacob to Israel. His destiny also changed (Genesis 32:24-28). Maybe you have struggled your entire life to be good but nothing seems to change. Prayer is the key. It will change you.
5. God does things in answer to prayer. God does answer prayer. The Bible says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:7-11). Another verse says, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:3). God gives to those who trust him to the point of asking him. God is able to answer your prayers even beyond your expectations: “Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). No matter what your situation is, take it to God in prayer. He is more than able to answer your prayers. He wants to know that you trust him, that you believe in him to the point of coming to him with all that touches you. It is his joy to answer your prayers.
6. Prayer involves God in what we do. When we pray, we invite God into our situations. It is like bringing heaven into earth. It makes eternal values real. The presence of God in any situation delivers, releases and builds. It transforms the temporary and earthly to become eternal.
7. Prayer clarifies our perspectives. When we pray, we receive wisdom, our perspectives are clarified and we are able to make wise and godly decisions. Prayer gives us an understanding of the spiritual powers behind activities and realities visible to the human eyes.
8. Through prayer, we are delivered from temptations. “And when he was at the place, he said to them ‘pray that you enter not into temptation’….And he said to them, why do you sleep? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40, 46). Many people have fallen and been defeated because they neglected prayer. Our enemy is at the business of weakening and destroying believers. Jesus encourages us to be in the place of prayer lest we fall into temptation. There are many more reasons why it is expedient to pray. Prayer is God’s key. No matter what your situation is, God wants to teach you to pray. Are you willing to learn?

John Abraham Godson, a native of Nigeria, has been serving as a missionary in Poland for the past thirteen years. He is international director of Pillgrim Mission International.

Strategically Praying for the Nations

1. Pray for the Lord to be drawing the unreached to Himself, that He would pour out His Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15) on those whom He is drawing to Himself. As a part of this Spirit of adoption, pray specifically for churches, individuals & families to adopt various unreached people groups through prayer, giving & going.

2. Pray the Lord will work to convict the unreached of idolatry. Idolatry is a strong barrier against the gospel. Other things can be idols, such as deities, money, success, or any number of things raised against the knowledge of God. Pray that He will cause these people to question the strength & security of their idols.

3. Pray the unreached will be released from their fear of spirits & demonic powers. Specifically in the 10/40 Window, spiritism grips the people from the day of their birth & their culture is closely tied with the spirit world. Pray that our God, who is mighty to save, will cut through their fear with the presence of His Spirit.

4. Pray for those who are politically or economically oppressed-that the gospel would not be hindered by their state of oppression, but rather the gospel would transform their oppression into freedom. Pray for those who do not associate themselves with the gospel due to threats of oppression, that God will provide in the midst of, or remove completely, the oppression.

5. Pray for the believers currently living & ministering among the unreached, that God will protect them as He promises in scriptures such as Psalm 91-that He will be their sufficiency & their rear-guard, that His word will be their shield & sword.

6. Pray for women & children around the world who are subjugated & abused as lesser people. Pray the gospel will not be prevented from reaching them due to men who would keep them enslaved, or threaten them from belief in the gospel. Pray for others to provide for women & children who are ostracized by their families.

7. Pray for the salvation of leaders around the world, for national leaders, & international leaders, such as ambassadors & special envoys. Pray also for leaders who confess the faith to be sincere representations of Christ to those over whom they govern.

8. Pray God would send out more laborers into the harvest, knowing your time spent in prayer right now is the first step toward taking the light to the nations. Pray that He will show you how you might be involved in obeying the Great Commission. Pray that He will move in the lives of His people to see the unreached reached!

9. Knowing the people living in the 10/40 Window are particularly influenced by the spiritual realm, pray God will continue to use dreams & visions to inspire people to respond to Him.

10. Pray for missionaries who are currently living among the unreached or preparing to go, that they will find favor in the eyes of the nationals & will exhibit sensitivity & wisdom in regards to preserving culture, while not inhibiting their delivery of the gospel. Pray for them as they engage in language study.

11. Pray God will confirm His truth among those whom He is working to redeem, that He will use His great power to display His great might & people will respond in faith. Pray that just as Scripture says, faith comes through hearing & hearing through the Word of God, that God will confirm His might through His Word, which is translated into the languages of the unreached.

12. Pray for nationals to be trained in evangelism & to be discipled in the faith, that they may take on leadership roles within the church.

13. Pray for those who come to know the Lord & thus find themselves unequally yoked with an unbelieving spouse. Pray their commitment to live a pure & spirit-filled life will be a testimony to their unbelieving spouse & their household will come to faith as a result. Pray for the Lord to provide supportive people in the lives to exhort them to grow in their faith.

14. Pray for minority groups among the unreached who are persecuted by governing authorities. Pray they will not see missionaries as a means to political independence, but true freedom in Christ. Pray for the missionaries working in such situations, that they will not become tempted to hate those who persecute the people they work with, but rather set an example of love & obedience.

15. Pray God will use expatriates from the various unreached, who are living in other countries where the gospel is readily available, to return to their countries of origin with the gospel & the tools of leadership. Pray for those working with expatriates outside of the country, that they will be wise in discipling them & challenging them to return to their home countries.

16. Pray for those who feel that becoming a Christian means they no longer identify with their culture. In Central Asian countries many feel that abandoning the Islamic faith means they lose their cultural identity.

17. Pray for Christian men to set an example of tenderness toward their wives & children, that God will protect them from insults or ridicule & that His truth will prevail in their minds. Pray that their example will cause many others to seek after Christ.

18. Pray for materials to be produced in the languages of the unreached & for financial support to ship these materials to the various countries. Pray for wisdom in knowing which resources are most effective. Pray most especially that God's Word will be translated into every language known to mankind so people of every tongue may praise Him.

19. Pray for the strategic distribution of Christian materials to the unreached, that the Lord will protect the precious few materials from being confiscated by the authorities or causing persecution for the possessors of such materials. Pray for hearts willing to share Scripture, books & tapes with others, but hearts that are prudent in knowing who to approach with such materials.