Praying for the Lost

Matthew 9:36-38   When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Each of us can be one of those workers in the harvest field of the world...right from your own home, through prayer. 

Prayer is especially significant for missions because in mission work, we come up against so much of the evil status quo and the fatalistic views of so many cultures. Satan desires that the Christians, in missions or in mission support, will doubt God’s power to change. He doesn’t want us to beseech the God of the Universe to bring unreached people groups to Himself because Satan will continue to lose ground. Satan wants us to think that the situation is hopeless, that the people are a lost cause, that God doesn’t care about them.
   
This is a battle for every soul!  We must engage in petitionary prayer on behalf of the lost and in our own lives. We must ask ourselves this question...”Do we really think God would fail to bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry to Him night and day? Will He keep putting them off?” Jesus answered it for us in Luke 18:7-8, “I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
   
So, what do we do? How do we go beyond a quick "bless the people in China and bring all the lost to you" into true spiritual warfare on behalf of the lost? God has provided a wealth of resources.

The two websites I visit every day during my prayer time are:
http://www.operationworld.org/
http://www.unreachedoftheday.org/

One I use with my children to help them learn about and pray for other countries (each country has a short video which really helps them gain a visual sense of a nation) is:
https://www.1040windowreporter.com/day-1

The website, Operation World, leads you in prayer for a new country every day, and not only do you pray very specific prayers for that country, but you also will learn a lot about other countries in the process. Unreached of the day will lead you in prayer for a different group of people/nation each day who need to know about Jesus. Your prayers for these people will prepare their hearts to hear the Gospel

There are also a number of other wonderful resources, both books and websites. I have listed just a few of them below. I will list more as I come across them under the "Prayer" tab at the top of the page or along the right side of the blog.

Window on the World (for children) and Operation World (for adults) books
The Prayer Driven Life by Pastor Robert Oh
Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore
Voice of the Martyrs www.persecution.com  sends out a weekly list of prayer requests for the persecuted church
http://www.finishthetask.org/prayeralliance/calendar.pdf

Prayer is effective and so very necessary...it moves the hand of God!

Colossians 4:3-4 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Prayer - Rebellion Against the Status Quo

 

  I believe that the most important thing you can do, right now, in obeying the Great Commission, is to pray. You don't have to leave your home, spend any money, make any sacrifices (except some time)...just pray! The Bible is very clear that prayer changes things. Jesus, God in the flesh, prayed. If Jesus, who had only three years on earth to do all that He had come to do, took time out of His incredibly busy schedule to pray (Lk. 6:12;  Matt. 14:23; Lk. 3:21, 9:28-29; Mt. 26:36-45) then He obviously wants us to pray frequently.  
   
So, why is prayer often seen as the last resort, rather than the first response? Why would we rather take some sort of action to fix a problem rather than go to God first. I believe one of the reasons is that we often don’t believe that prayer will make any difference.
   
That fatalistic view of prayer comes from our ultimate view of God. Do we truly believe the words of the Bible? Do we believe that He is concerned and involved in every aspect of our own lives and the lives of the lost? Do we believe He has a plan for this world? Do we believe He is still in control, despite the things we see around us that would tell us otherwise?
   
 It really comes down to one essential decision that Adam and Eve were asked to make in the Garden and that we are asked to make every day in our own lives...do we believe the truth of God, as shown to us in the Bible, or the lies of Satan? For every truth of God, Satan counterfeits that with his own lie.
   
Many people, including many Christians, look at the world around them, even at their own lives, and take on a fatalistic view...that nothing can change; the lies of Satan seem too powerful, too persuasive; that they must quietly accept the way things are, the status quo. Yet, the status quo in our world today is not how God first created our earth or how He desires it to be functioning today. God’s perfect way, that He created, does not include war, killing, divorce, abuse or slavery. Although He allows it, in His sovereignty, to accomplish His good purposes, while He was on earth and today through the Holy Spirit, He battles evil and asks us to join Him.
   
Jesus shares the story of a widow, in Luke 18:1-8, who was seeking justice. She continued to persistently ask the judge for justice, until finally He gave her what she asked. Jesus shared this story to show that we, as His disciples, "should always pray and not give up," (Lk. 18:1).  This type of praying is called petitionary prayer.
   
Petitionary prayer is “rebellion - rebellion against the status quo, the state of the world in its sin and fallenness. It is the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is completely abnormal. It is the rejection of every agenda, every scheme, every opinion that clashes with...God...a declaration that Evil is not a variation on Good but its very opposite,” (David Wells).
   
It is prayer that 1) believes that God does not want the current evil status quo to continue on earth, 2) believes that God can change things for the better through His power and 3) believes God will change things in response to the prayers of His people.
   
"Prayer is not magic; it does not always work; it is not something we do, but a response to what God is already doing within us and the world. Our prayers are the necessary opening that allows God to act without violating our freedom. Prayer is the ultimate act of partnership with God" (Walter Wink). It is recognizing that God is in control, He is acting, He will be faithful to our prayers and He is asking us to join Him through prayer.
   
While we were living in Seoul, South Korea, attending Jubilee Church, our pastor did something that I had never seen in a church before. After He was finished with his sermon each Sunday, he would ask that we pray, as a congregation, about what we had just heard. He would pick out four or five main points from the sermon. For each point, he would first pray about it and then he would have us, out-loud, pray and talk to God about how we would have Him work in our lives and in the lives of others. This would go on for about 15 - 20 minutes. I can not tell you how thrilling it was to stand amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ as we were all verbally and at the same time, pouring out our hearts to the Lord. I believe it pleased the Lord greatly. And His blessings and use of Jubilee Church are very evident. Pastor David ensured that prayer was not just something that was done quickly at the beginning and the end of the service, as a sort of duty, but that it was an essential part of our time together. And I could almost see the smile on the face of God when He heard our times of prayer.

Prayer is effective and so very necessary...it moves the hand of God!


Colossians 4:3-4 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
   

Break my Heart Lord

Daily life can get very busy with lots of good things...daily care of our family, time with our husbands/wives, school, church, music or sports, friends. The days go by so quickly. What do we have to show for them? A lot! A lot of good things and eternal treasures in the people we have touched.

But, let's step back from our families, friends, and jobs for a moment. Step back from our neighborhoods, even our cities and country. What is the big picture? Why are we here on this earth? Why, once we accepted Jesus as our Savior, didn't He take us right up to Heaven to be with Him?

Because He has work for us to do here on earth. But what is that work?

While I was growing up, living the "American dream," I imagined that the work God had for me was to do the best I could in school so that I could go to a good college, get a good paying job, get married, have children and live a comfortable life in America. But...is that it? Is that the "work" God left me on this earth to do?

I think the answer is yes and no. Yes, we are to love our husbands/wives, children, family and  friends, do the best we can at our jobs, raise our families and do our best to provide them with a healthy, safe environment. But...Jesus told us something more.

When He left earth to be with His Father in Heaven, Jesus left us with some very important commands. The Gospels records His words...each a bit different but all with the same central theme:

Matt 28:18-20  "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

Mark 16:15  "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'"

Luke 24:45-47  "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'"

The central theme is that we are to go and tell the nations about Jesus. And this command wasn't given to just a few of His disciples but to all of them, including each one of us, if we have accepted Him as our Savior. But for the longest time, I just skipped over this command when I read these passages. If I thought about it much at all, I was glad that missionaries went overseas and I asked God to help me be more bold when talking to friends about Jesus. But that was it.

Then the change began. It began, in 2006 when we moved to Korea, with my desire to know God more. I began praying, asking Him to make Himself known to me. I began to ask God to do for me what the words of this song, Hosanna, by Hillsong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uep8qULLJE   so poignantly say: "Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause." And He did!

Suddenly, I found myself going to bed at night thinking about all the people who would not go to bed in a comfortable bed, in a safe home, with a full stomach, their children and husband or wife safely with them, and most importantly, resting secure in Jesus. This prompted me to pray. And as I prayed more, God spoke to me more about His desire for the nations. He began to break my heart and fill me with compassion for the lost and the persecuted church. But, I didn't start out with this goal. My only desire had been to grow closer to God and to do with my life what He wanted me to do...beyond my family. He is the One who grew these passions, these desires, these prayers and actions in me.

This passion for the lost and the persecuted began to spill over into my family. I began teaching my children about the world, the Church, the lost, missionaries...basically, teaching them to be Great Commission-minded. My goals for them changed. At first I had the goals for them that I had had for myself growing up. But now, my goal is that they would passionately follow Jesus Christ wherever that may lead them. My desire is that they either go as missionaries or be a sending force for missionaries. I plan to talk much more about educating your child and the wonderful resources that are out there in later postings.

The big picture goes beyond our family, beyond our communities, beyond America. It reaches to the least-reached people in the most remote, repressive areas of the world. We have got to start thinking about them, praying for them and doing what we can to share the good news of Jesus with them. And we do this all for the glory of God. Jesus deserves this! The lost deserve this! And we, in the process, will be incredibly blessed and will be "storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven."

But it all begins with prayer. God will speak as long as you are asking and listening. I believe He will break your heart for the lost, just as He is breaking mine. He will light “a spark for world missions that will grow into a fire for the unsaved like you’ve never had before...(that) God’s love for unreached people (will) burn so strongly inside you that it will start spreading to others, specifically to your own children and to the young people you come in contact with.” Ann Dunagan

My prayer is that this website will help you on this journey into fulfilling the Great Commission. There is so much that you can do to use the time that He has given you for His glory!

Daily Quiet Time - It's So Important!

The word "quiet time" may put a smile on your lips or it may cause you to feel a pang of guilt. We know, as Christians, that we are supposed to have a quiet time with the Lord every day. But many of us don't. Why? The reasons vary, but they usually boil down to not feeling like we have enough time.  But you do...you do, IF, you will seriously ask God to give you that time and help you keep it dedicated to Him.

Let me share a bit about my life to illustrate this. When I was young, my grandmother showed me, by her example, the importance of having a time set aside to be with the Lord each day, praying and studying His Word (beyond Bible studies or church). I began this habit and continued in it regularly. I am thankful that I had many years of this habit before I became a mother.

I had spent 10 years in the Air Force full-time so when I came home to take care of my two children, it was quite a change! I gave birth to Rachel and then 6 weeks later, went to China to adopt 10-month-old baby Grace. So, it was a bit like having twins. That first year was filled with blessings but it was also very difficult. I suffered from Post-Partum Depression, insomnia and intense anger at times. I had never in my life been in such a difficult place. I remember waking up some mornings and dreading the start of the day.

While my family and friends were incredibly supportive, I believe the number one reason I made it through and the number one blessing that came from that first year was my daily quiet time with the Lord! I am not exaggerating when I say that I only had about an hour, every day, of free time (Rachel slept with us that first year and so I didn't go to bed until she did). During that hour or so, as Grace napped upstairs and Rachel napped beside me, I opened by Bible, read and prayed.

There was nothing else that I could have done that would have been more beneficial to me and to our family than those hours spent with the Lord! If you are familiar with the Michael W. Smith song...This is the Air I Breathe...that described my life. God was closer than He ever had been before. He filled me with the strength, encouragement and wisdom I needed, each day, to keep going. And through those days of utter dependance on Him, I got to a place where my quiet time was the time of day I most looked forward to. I am serious when I say this and I don't think it is disloyal to my family. Yes, I loved and still cherish the time I spend with my family each day (one of the reasons I teach my children at home) but, I got to a place in my life where I loved God even more. Where I looked forward to that time and would not give it up for other things. You've got to get to this place...this place of utter dependance...before you will have a daily, committed time to Him that comes before any other commitments in your life.

Jesus did this. Here is the God of the Universe, come to earth with only three short years to do all that He had planned. His schedule was much fuller than any of ours, yet He made time daily, usually in the early mornings or late at night, to get away to be with God.

Now I tell you all this, about myself, not to increase your guilt about not having a quiet time but to encourage you to try again. But this time, don't do it out of a guilty sense of obligation. Instead, remember that you are going to be spending eternity with God and you want to get to know Him now. Remember, He looks forward to hearing from you...you are so very special to Him. Imagine how you would feel if your husband or children talked to you only once or twice a day, for a few minutes. You would yearn for more...more time to tell them what you were thinking and hear what was on their hearts. God wants that from us. He wants to talk to us. He wants us to get to know Him. And as we get to know Him, He will begin to speak to us about the things that really matter to Him; about the things He wants us to be doing with our time.

It was during this first year of parenting, that God really began to develop a heart, in me, for His Church and the lost. As I focused my eyes and thoughts upwards, and outwards, my own problems began to get smaller. I began to focus less on myself and the difficulties in my life, and more on God, on His strength and on other people. That, too, was a lifesaver.

There is so much more I could say about this topic which is so dear to my heart, but I'm sure you have probably already heard it or read it before. Bottom line...a daily quiet time takes time, commitment, and perseverance but the reward is so worth it! I promise you that if you set aside this time, God will be faithful. He will help you stay committed. And if it means you may lose a bit of sleep (to wake up early or stay up late in order to spend time with Him), He will give you the energy you need for the rest of the day. We, as Christians, pour ourselves out for everyone all day long. But it's our time with the Lord that refills us each day. If you aren't being refilled, you are running on empty!

10/40 Window

You may have already heard of the 10/40 Window, but if you haven't, let me try to explain it. The 10/40 Window is mentioned quite a bit in Christian missions literature, websites, etc.

The 10/40 Window is an area of the world that contains the largest population of non-Christians. The area extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees latitude North of the equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China.

A great, short video to watch on the 10/40 Window is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O_IufSaCE8&feature=related and one for children at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJxj3glsZA

This is the heartland/stronghold of the world’s major non-Christian religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism; as well as most of the remaining Communist countries

2/3 of the world’s population lives in this region

80% of the world’s poorest live in this region

43 of the top 50 countries that persecute Christians are in the 10/40 Window.

With such a need in the 10/40 Window, I was saddened to learn that over 87% of all cross-cultural missionaries are not going to those in the 10/40 Window but to areas full of nominal Christians. And, out of every $1.00 of Christian giving to all causes, only half a penny goes toward pioneer church planting among Least-Reached people groups. (Ann Dunagan)

The 10/40 Window needs to be the focus of much prayer and missionary outreach...both foreign and missionaries from the country itself (indigenous).

What Remains to be Done?

God is doing great things in the world today! Yet, there is still much to be done! I'd like to try to give you an idea of the mission field. These statistics need to challenge us but not scare us. If you believe the Bible, and I do...every word...then we can be encouraged by what it says:

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Rev. 7:9-10

The Bible is very clear, time and again, that people from every nation, tribe, people and language will be in Heaven, worshipping at the throne of our Lord. But for this to happen, there are still many more nations and people groups that need to be reached.

God created each person precious in His sight! And each one needs to be precious in our eyes. I remind myself that each person was someone's little baby, some mother held that child, just like I hold my own, and dreamed dreams, made wishes and said prayers for that child as she gazed lovingly down into its face. Each person's life has just as much importance and significance as my own daughter's or son's. Yes, they speak a different language, eat different foods and most likely live in a much different lifestyle than my own. Yet, they have the same hopes and dreams for themselves and their children. 

But imagine...a life with none of the hope that comes from knowing Jesus as our Savior. I can't imagine that. I was born hearing the name of Jesus from my parents' lips. I have never known a day that I didn't know the Lord. But there are so many...so very many people just like us who have NEVER even heard the name Jesus. This has got to break our hearts and get us to act!

I have compiled a list of statistics that describe the state of the mission field today. These stats come from the books 2020 Vision by Bill and Amy Stearns and the Church is Bigger Than You Think by Patrick Johnstone. I highly recommend both of these books!

- Generally speaking: 10% of world population of approx. 6 billion are committed Christians; 20% are nominals Christians; 40% are non-Christians living in people groups where there are churches and a Christian witness; 30% of the world population are unreached/unevangelized people (approx. 2 billion people)

- 97% of the unreached live in the “10/40 Window” which encompasses Northern Africa, Southern Asia and the Middle East...to reach the unreached, we must reach the 10/40 Window! I'll talk more about the 10/40 Window in my next blog.

- There are 6,600 Unreached / Least-Reached ethnic people groups out of 16,300 total groups in the world. (“Unreached - Least-Reached” is defined as less than 2% evangelical individuals and less than 5% Christian adherents in the people group.)  A people group is defined as a group of people who have a distinctive language and culture from those around them.

- 3,700 of these Unreached / Least-Reached groups are small, under 10,000 in population, so the task isn’t as large as it first appears.

- Approximately 70% (4.6 billion) of the world’s population have heard the gospel in some form. Unfortunately, 30% (2 billion) have had virtually no exposure to the gospel message.

After looking at those statistics, there are so many people who still need to hear the Good News of Jesus. But why are we to complete the task? Why not let someone else do it or just let God do it Himself?

Not because it is our duty, though it is.

Not because it will bring eternal life to many, though it will.

Not because it will improve the living conditions of the poor, though it will.

Not because it will improve stability in the world’s institutions, though it will.

Not because it will improve environmental stewardship, though it will.

Not because we will be rewarded in Heaven, though we will.

We should disciple the nations because Jesus is worthy to receive their honor, glory and praise.

Yes, He is so worthy!!! More worthy than anything else I could spend my time on!

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Rev. 5:12

What is God Doing?

If our only news source is Fox News, CNN or one of the other major American news networks, it seems like things are pretty bleak in the world. We hear about earthquakes, wars, death and destruction on every front and it can get pretty depressing. I think Christians fall prey to this mindset as well. It's easy to forget that God tells us that He wins in the end!!! Jesus is coming back! But before that happens, God tells us to

"Look at the nations and watch-- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5

One of my reasons for this blog is to share with you the GOOD NEWS that is happening around the world. But we won't find it, usually, unless we look for it in alternative news sources. It can be found in some excellent books, great websites and in speaking to people who live or have lived overseas.

I've listed below some of the neat things that God is doing in our world, right now. It helps to remind ourselves of these truths to combat all the negative news around us. Satan would like nothing better than for Christians to feel demoralized and give up the fight.

Some great news to think about and share with others comes from the book 2020 Vision by Bill and Amy Stearns

- An average of 160,000 a day hear the message of redemption in Christ for the

first time.

- Every hour, 3,000 more people decide to follow Jesus Christ which results in 72,000 new believers in Jesus every day, 91% of which are found in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

- 1,600 new churches opened every week around the world

- 80 percent of the world's people have access to at least some portion of the Bible in a language they can understand

- Daily, in Africa, there are 20,000 new believers; Africa was 3% Christian in 1900 and is now more than 50% Christian

- Uganda: One church in Kampala seats 10,500 and is filled to capacity for four services every Sunday. The church has planted more than 1,000 daughter churches across Uganda. Twenty-five years ago, Uganda’s population was 22% Muslim. Today that figure is around 6% Muslim. To find out how God is using one young lady in a remarkable way in Uganda go to amazima.org

- Explosive growth in Latin America...almost all unreached people groups have been reached with 50,000 new churches per year

- In 1950 in China - 1 million believers; 2009 in China - 80 million Christians with average of 10,000 - 23,000 new Christians daily

- Mongolia - In 1989 there were only four known Christians; today there are more than 10,000 indigenous believers.

- Afghanistan - Before Sept. 11, 2001, there were only 17 known Muslim-background followers of Christ. Today there are more than 10,000. To pray specifically for Afghanistan go to http://prayercentral.net/

- During the 1990s, the number of born-again believers in the world doubled!

- In 100 AD, the time of the earliest persecution of the Church, there were 360 non-Christians for every true believer...today that number has shrunk to just 7 non-Christians for every Christian as the Holy Spirit continues to move in our world