You did it! You made it to the 40th and final day of the KMUSA 40 Day Prayer Journey. We want to thank you for your prayers because they make a difference in our ministry. As the final day we want to encourage you to make this 40 day prayer journey a continued practice. You can pick another missionary to pray for, you can continue praying for the missionary you chose, you can pray over KMUSA as a whole, or you can spend 40 days praying over one aspect of missionary life. 

Today we ask you to pause and ask God, “What do you want me to pray for for [INSERT MISSIONARY]?” Then pause and wait to hear what he says. It is easy to get distracted during this waiting so we encourage you to put some light music on in the background, make sure you are in a private place, and have a journal ready to write down every thought that comes to mind as you listen. Making a practice of listening for God to speak into a particular situation is a great way to continue to pray for our missionaries. Some missionaries are facing financial battles, others spiritual battles,  others health issues, and others unspoken prayer requests. The Lord knows exactly what they need and by practicing listening to his voice he will reveal what you exactly need to pray for. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being my strength and perseverance on this 40 day prayer journey. Thank you for [INSERT MISSIONARY] and their calling to go and spread Your Word. How else can I pray for them?

Seasons of spiritual growth and feeding ebb and flow possibly for much of our time here on earth. Let me ask a very difficult question: Has there ever been a time in your Christian walk where you knew you couldn’t make it through a day without the Lord? Yes, I do mean through prayer and Scripture reading. But, go deeper with me here. When was the last time we felt His presence so deeply in our lives and hearts that it became hard to breathe if we were away from Him for a time? Our very breath taken away if we’re not in His presence. I’m not suggesting we all immediately become nuns and monks, but this question begs for an answer. And I think a big part of this answer comes in 2 parts; who or what are we worshiping? And who or what are we trying to control or relinquish control of?

Why did we start the topic about missionaries getting spiritually fed on the mission field like this? I believe it’s because these questions lie at the center of their growth and maturity in Christ as well. Missionaries are constantly pouring their whole entire lives into people, meetings, teammates, church members, community outreaches and so much more. When they give and give and give and give, how do these missionaries regain spiritual vitality, energy, and focus? It’s imperative that we pray that our missionaries are growing in strength and maturity on the field. Certainly, it can take place as they go to church, hear a good sermon, or do an outreach. But real maturation in faith comes through digging into God’s Word. Being a man or woman of much prayer…believing that nothing can be done, no plans succeed unless they go to the Lord in prayer first. And also that they find like-minded believers to hold them accountable and encourage one another in the journey. Read this from the Apostle Peter and you’ll get a better understanding of what I mean:

“His [God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pt. 1:3-9).”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to praise You that I can come to You at any time, unencumbered, and have a truly intimate relationship with You. I ask that You would strengthen (Your Missionary) and give them a spiritual fervor they have never experienced before. I ask that (Your Missionary) would diminish any pride or desire to control certain things in their life and worship and serve You alone! Help them to embody these beautiful character qualities in 2 Peter in increasing measure with each passing day. In the strong and mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen!

We are all holistic beings. I know, I know that sounds like a $64 word, but all it means is that each of us have five characteristics that make up our whole being. We are all physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual beings. It’s very important for us to understand this fact because if even one of these five are not working as they should, all the rest of them are strained. When was the last time you got REALLY sick? Did you want to run right out and have coffee with 3 friends? Or when was the last time you were in a dry spell spiritually? Was your first instinct to pop right out of bed, grab your Bible, and start to pray and praise the Lord? You see, keeping these parts of ourselves running as they should takes the Lord’s work first, but then we also have moral responsibility to keep in step with Him as we go throughout our day and week.

Our missionaries deal with a lot of emotionally and mentally draining things and people on a weekly basis. Not to mention just what a spiritually taxing position they’re in as well much of the time. We all can attest to the fact that being in relationships is hard work. I plan to talk about this in a later post, but where do missionaries get encouragement? Much of the time I think they are led to believe that they need to get their spiritual food from God Himself! And while that’s true in a sense, we were also made for relationships and to be encouraged as we encourage others. These things need to be our prayer for our missionaries today. They need to know that we are praying for their overall health and well being as they continue in the mighty work they’re doing.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for creating us as You did. Thank You that we are image-bearers of Christ because He shared humanity with us. I pray for (Your Missionary) to understand that You designed them to be holistic in nature. Please continue to keep them healthy as they do the work You have asked of them to do. I pray that (Your Missionary) has some people who are of great encouragement to them in all facets of life. Thank You for Your sovereign grace in this way. In Jesus name, Amen!

Some of our missionaries are serving in places where their physical safety is at risk (like in Ukraine).  Others face the risk of censure of their ministry activities or even loss of visas.  Pray for wisdom for these missionaries as they seek to advance the gospel in the love and power of the Holy Spirit, without unnecessarily alienating people.  Jesus calls us to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for placing your ambassadors for the gospel in every country of the world, even in places where there is danger or hostility to your sent ones.  We ask that you protect them from physical harm and from persecution.  Give them cultural awareness and wisdom as they negotiate the complicated environments they find themselves in.  We also ask you to protect them from the attacks of the evil one.

Discipleship is a big topic! It probably starts with the first act or conversation revealing Jesus to us. And it ends with… What? Do we ever reach the point that we don’t need to be discipled? Until we see Jesus face-to-face, we strive to be better, more surrendered disciples.

Stateside, we have so many resources to continue to grow, be challenged, have spiritual conversations, and have other Jesus followers speak into our lives. On the field, especially in the early years, your opportunities are much more limited. It is much easier than when missionaries like Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) left England for China. He said goodbye to his family knowing it would be years, if ever, he would see them again. No phones. No Zoom. Only occasion and unreliable mail. The only fellow believers were the ones you took with you or the ones who learned from you. It is easier for missionaries to be spiritually fed now, but it has to be very intentional. It does not happen without purposeful and self-disciplined actions.

Please be in prayer for our missionaries across the world to be growing not just in discipling others, but in being discipled in their own walk with Christ. Pray that the Father will continue to feed and tend His shepherds as they tend, feed, and lead new sheep to the Great Shepherd.

Prayer: Father, we come on behalf of those You have called to other parts of the world to make Your Name and Your Gospel known. Please help them to hold tightly to Your Hand! Help them to find ways to have deep fellowship, vibrant prayer lives, and spiritual meat to feast on. May they continue to grow, mature, and flourish in their relationships with you!

Our God multiplies and so should we! Think of the five loaves & two fish that fed the 5,000 in John chapter 6. Or Elijah with the widow’s oil & flour jars never emptying. Jesus’ time here on earth was full of examples of how He would have us build The Kingdom through multiplication.

If you’ve been following us here on social media for even a short amount of time you’ve probably heard or read that statistically Europe is the least Christian continent. Operation World has Europe’s population at 742,272,652 but only 2.5% of her people are evangelical believers. That’s a VERY large number and it honestly can feel a bit overwhelming when you look at it. We believe that the solution is to send missionaries that are passionate about making disciple-making disciples. They will then make more disciples, who will go and make even more disciples.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we want to take a moment to thank you for sending Jesus to live out the disciple making process as an example for us. We pray that you would draw people to yourself through the proclamation of Your Word. We ask that You would increase and multiply through (missionary’s) efforts in (country). Even today we pray that you would provide an opportunity for (missionary) to share Your love and saving grace with just one individual. Encourage and renew (missionary) with a zeal to live a life that points others to You. We know that our very best is nothing unless You are in it so we commit this day to You and trust that You will multiply our efforts. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen. 

I think it’s safe to say that missionaries who have worked on the mission field for any length of time understand hardship. Hardship as far as the message of the Gospel being planted in the hearts of unbelievers, hardships in language understanding, hardship in team dynamics at times, hardship through feeling lonely or disconnected in some way during a particular season. Hardship is real. But in the same breath we also realize that many times hardship brings about joy, greater satisfaction in God, changed hearts, and a willingness to persevere even amidst the hardship.

Two passages stick out here that I think will shed light on how we can pray for the perseverant faith of our missionaries.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:6-9)”

Our missionaries understand that in order to stay alert, stay focused, and persevere, they MUST understand that God’s power is working in and through them even through trials and hardships. This is how we pray for them.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work SO THAT you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (Jms 1:2-5).”

The testing of (Your Missionary Here) is producing wisdom and perseverance so they WON’T give up. Let’s pray today for our missionaries to know and respond to their calling with all diligence and perseverance because of God’s plan completing GOOD WORK in them for those who desperately need to hear the Good News of the Gospel today!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You have not left (Your Missionary) alone to try to fight and fend for themselves. I pray that You would give (Your Missionary) a better, unique understanding of what it means to persevere in the immense work You are having them do. I pray that Your Spirit would enliven their heart when discouraged or when hardship comes. May they have boldness in their own personal life with You and carry that into every other relationship. Thank You in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen! 

Like believers anywhere in the world, missionaries want to speak of Christ’s love to those who have not yet responded to the Gospel.  This is especially challenging when trying to reach those who seem very closed to the message.  It requires prayer and a complete reliance on the Holy Spirit to soften those hearts.  We must practice patience and demonstrate real love with a respectful and winsome spirit in those situations, yet be bold to speak when the  Holy Spirit leads us

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for calling our missionaries to serve you in other cultures.  We ask you to give them patience and wisdom but also boldness when nudged by your Spirit to speak your Truth in love to unbelievers. 

Paul talks in 2 Corinthians 11-12 about the hardships he has endured. In Galatians, his head is ready to explode because they seem ready to exchange “salvation through grace” for “trying to be good enough” to earn salvation. In 2 Timothy, he is alone because almost everyone has abandoned him. In each of these cases, Paul falls back on his calling. He doesn’t worry about men who can kill his body but not touch his soul. Paul is constantly leaning into what Christ is doing and has already done. He doesn’t see the sovereignty of God changing in the future either. Paul has confidence in Christ and in his calling. In effect, he says if I am following Christ and the calling He has put in my life, it's all going to be okay.

The mission field can be hard. Your motives and ministry can be truly and/or purposely misunderstood. It can be lonely. In those times, it is faith, confidence in Christ, and dwelling on  your calling that gives you the strength and peace and grit to endure and flourish. Please be in prayer for our missionaries to not only endure but to flourish in their calling!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the examples you have given in Your Word! Thank You for being a God who keeps His promises! Please strengthen our missionaries with peace and clarity in their callings. Help their faith to grow as they see over and over again that you are worthy of our trust.

One of the most important prayers we can pray for missionaries in active service is for their effectiveness in evangelizing the lost in the cultural context they’re in. We have the opportunity to pray that their efforts result in new believers. Asking in faith for our missionaries to have great success as they share the gospel with those who don’t have a saving knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ is one of the most sincere prayers we can offer to the Lord. It’s what our missionaries went to their ministry field to accomplish…the Great Commission. God the Father and all His angels rejoice when someone who was lost in unbelief comes to salvation. And it’s going to give any missionary great encouragement in his or her ministry. Let’s pray for that today… simply and directly and specifically… for your missionaries.

Prayer: Lord, You are the Father of all those who have faith in You, and that faith even comes from You… So we ask You, please grant that Your workers will be powerfully effective in all their evangelistic efforts. As they share Your truth and Your word with people who do not yet know You, please fill their human words with the power of the Holy Spirit, so that faith is produced in the hearts of their hearers.