Praying Together For Missionaries

God had to deliver Paul and Timothy out of the trouble that they faced in Asia.  It was so bad that they despaired of life.  But Paul credited, not only the Lord, but also the Corinthians for helping together by prayer for them.  Tonight we’re going to discuss praying together for missionaries.  There are three things to consider.  When we pray for missionaries we are:

Helping together by prayer, 2 Cor 1:11.  When we pray together for missionaries, we help them get through all kinds of situations. And the Holy Spirit helps us to know how to pray and what to pray, Rom 8:26-27.  Notice the Holy Spirit’s cooperation with the Philippians as they prayed for Paul in Rome, Phil 1:19.  When you pray this way, you know you’re helping.  There’s a sense that you’re helping them bear their burden, Gal 6:2.

Striving together by prayer, Rom 15:30-32.  When Paul wrote to the Romans, and asked them to pray, he gave them four specific requests.  And he besought (an urgent, earnest request) them to strive together in prayer for him.  To strive is to devote serious effort to.  You know what it is to strive in prayer.  You have done it when you prayed for something that is essential to you or someone who is close to you.  You get really serious then.  When they have urgent requests, we need to strive together in prayer for them.

Persevering together by prayer, Eph 6:18-20.  Pastor Randy King preached this text during our missions conference.  He had three points.  Pray for an open door of utterance.  Pray that we may speak boldly.  And pray that we speak boldly what we ought to speak.

Notice what Paul wrote in Eph 6:18, “watching thereunto with all perseverance”.  Perseverance is “continued effort to achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition”.  You have to stay with prayer until the thing you’re requesting gets answered or until God gives you the assurance that he will answer.  You’ll often see that your prayers have been answered in future prayer letters from our missionaries.

Conclusion: help together, strive together, and persevere together in prayer.  This is what we do when praying together for missionaries.