Last week I spent time with single adults and couples who will be going to the international mission field within the next several months. I told them my readers would love to pray for them as they go, and they gave me their immediate prayer requests. Would you pray for these requests, and then ask others to join us in praying?
- Pray their people group will be receptive. These folks are walking away from their lives in North America to reach the world. They long for the people to whom they’re going to be ready and open to the gospel.
- Pray for their language and culture study. These tasks aren’t easy, especially for those missionaries who are older. Many are going with fear over this aspect of their preparation.
- Pray for their family and team unity. Veteran missionaries have told them that family and team strife is sometimes the toughest struggle they face. These new missionaries hear loudly Jesus’ prayer for believers to be one (John 17).
- Pray for their children. In some cases, their children aren’t yet believers. In other cases, the missionaries simply want their children to adjust well, love their new home, and be part of their ministries.
- Pray for their own quiet time and walk with God. They know they’re stepping into a spiritual battle as they go, but they also know it’s not always easy to find time alone with God. They want us to pray that they’ll stay faithful.
- Pray for their families remaining in the States. Some of these missionaries leave behind family members who don’t fully understand why they’re going overseas. Even those families that are fully supportive, though, also struggle with saying “goodbye.”
- Pray they will finish well. These new workers are on the front end of their work, but they realize that the work will be hard. They know they’ll need God’s help all along the way.
Take some time to pray now for these new missionaries. God knows who they are.