Participating in the Work of Our Missionaries Through Prayer⤒🔗

Mission is not only carried out far away from us in the dry dusty fields of KwaNdebele or Northern Zambia or somewhere else in the world, but also in your closet where you plead on your knees: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” It is done in your family devotions when you lay the names and the needs of the mission­aries before the feet of our Father at His throne of grace.

Paul realized the vital importance of the prayers of the people of God in his endeavors on the mission field. That is why he often pleaded with God’s people to remember him and his work in their prayers. His mindset was this: My work in preaching and teaching the great truths of the gospel will be extremely weak without the regular, genuine prayer support of God’s people.

That is why he urged them:

• “I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me” (Rom. 15:30)
   
• “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:18-19)
   
• “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak” (Col. 4:2-4)

Prayer is Part of God’s Eternal Counsel for the Coming of His Kingdom←⤒🔗

In ways far above what we can comprehend, God included our prayers and intercession as part of His eternal plan for the coming of His kingdom. A.W. Pink rightly wrote:

God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass, but He has also decreed that these events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment. God has elected certain ones to be saved, but He has also decreed that these ones shall be saved through the preaching of the gospel. The gospel, then, is one of the appointed means for the working out of the eternal counsel of the Lord; and prayer is another. God has decreed the means as well as the end, and among the means is prayer. Even the prayers of His people are included in His eternal decrees. There­fore, instead of prayers being in vain, they are among the means through which God exercises His decrees.

In commenting on Romans 15:30, John Calvin wrote:

Since then it is so great a favor from God to be helped by the prayers of the faithful, that even Paul, a most choice instrument of God, did not think it right to neglect this privilege, how great must be our stupidity, if we, who are abject and worthless creatures, disregard it?

By the word strive, or contend, he alludes to the difficulties by which he was oppressed, and by bid­ding them to assist in this contest, he shows how the godly ought to pray for their brethren, that they are to assume their person, as though they were placed in the same difficulties; and he also intimates the effect which they have; for he who commends his brother to the Lord, by taking to himself a part of his distress, does so far relieve him. And indeed if our strength is derived from prayer to God, we can in no better way confirm our brethren, than by praying to God for them.

In his debate with Sadoletus, Calvin wrote: “In asserting the intercession of the saints, if all you mean is, that they continually pray for the completion of Christ’s kingdom, on which the salvation of all the faithful depends, there is none of us who calls it in question.”

The Relationship between the Word, Prayer, and the Sovereign Work of the Holy Spirit←⤒🔗

The primary instrument of the Holy Spirit through which the church is built is the Word (1 Pet. 1:23; Rom. 10:17). But the Holy Spirit is sovereign and does not always automatically work regeneration in the hearts of those who hear the gospel when it is preached. That is the so-called per verbo (automatically through the Word) opinion of certain theologians. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit only works cum verbo, meaning together with, in, under and through the min­istry of the gospel when it pleases God. The Holy Spirit is pleased to be moved by the prayers of God’s sincere children when they pray according to His will. God answers the sincere prayers and pleas of His children for the powerful working of the Holy Spirit. God gives His grace and His Holy Spirit only to those who pray unceasingly (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 45). That is why an evangelizing church always needs to be a praying church.

God Uses Our Intercessory Prayers←⤒🔗

God gave us intercessory prayer so we could partici­pate in His work of saving the lost, transforming soci­ety, and establishing His kingdom. To be sure, God is perfectly capable of doing these things without us. He is all-wise, full of love, and almighty. In His wisdom, He always knows what is best. In His love, He always chooses what is best. And in His power, He is able to do what is best. He doesn’t need us. Nevertheless, in His sovereign good pleasure, He has chosen to involve us, through our prayers, in accomplishing His will. Our intercessory prayers are important to God; they should also be important to us.

What Should We Pray For?←⤒🔗

Among others, the following aspects should be part of our prayer agenda:

• Jesus urged us to pray for workers in the harvest (Matt. 9:38).
   
• Paul teaches us to pray that the hearts of those who hear should be opened (Col. 4:2).
   
• The Bible also urges us to pray that those who minister should be bold, clear, and convincing when they preach the gospel (Acts 4:29; Eph. 6:19).
   
• We should specifically pray for the spiritual growth of new believers (Phil. 1:9-10).
   
• Prayer is not only a support to the ministry; it is part of the ministry (Rom. 15:30).

Michael Green did a thorough study of evangelism in the early church and compared it with the churches of today. Concerning prayer he says:

Do you know a church where the priority is prayer? Prayer in individual lives, in prayer cells, in half-nights of prayer? If you do, I can tell you one thing about that church. It will be evangeliz­ing. In some way or other the good news of Jesus will be going out. Prayer is a priority in evangel­ism. Without it lives do not get changed however great the activism and however enthusiastic the proclamation. Most churches do not see church growth because they do not want it enough to pray for it.

The Bible gives us at least six clear reasons why our prayers matter to God.

1. God Governs in Response to Our Prayers←↰⤒🔗

When I first heard the phrase “God rules the world through the prayers of His people,” I was skeptical. My view of God was of One who knew what to do, decided what to do, and then did it. I still believe He knows what to do and decides what He wants to do; but I have come to realize that He ordinarily doesn’t just go ahead and do it. Instead, He prompts His people to pray and then acts in response to their prayers.

In Genesis 18:16-33, God teaches us that He was willing to rest the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah on Abraham’s prayers. Exodus 17:8-13 teaches us that the prayers of Moses were determinative for the battle Israel was waging against the Amalekites. Ezekiel 22:23-31 teaches us God was willing to show mercy to His people and not destroy them if there was an intercessor to plead on their behalf. Finding none, He went ahead and poured out His wrath on them. Nehemiah 1:4-11 shows us that the plan to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls came in response to the fasting and prayers of Nehemiah. In Revelation 8:4-6, we read that the voices, thunderings, and lightnings of the trumpets of God’s fulfillment of His eternal counsel only com­menced after the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God and cleansed with fire of the altar, were cast into the earth.

It is clear: God’s governance is inseparable from the intercessory prayers of His people. Things happens or don’t happen in relation to prayer.

This is God’s normal way of working. Things will happen as we pray that wouldn’t have happened if we had not prayed. And things will not happen if we do not pray that would have happened if we had prayed. This does not mean God can be manipulated through prayer to do what we want if what we want is con­trary to His will. Instead, God reveals His will to us by His Word and works in us by His Spirit so that we know His will and pray in accord with it. Then, in responding to our prayers, He accomplishes both His will and ours, and, in the process, involves us.

2. God Releases His Grace and Power when we Pray←↰⤒🔗

A dictionary defines intercession as “acting between two parties; begging or pleading on behalf of another.” An intercessor is a go-between, representing one party to another. In intercession, believers go before God and beseech Him on behalf of others to release into their lives what they themselves — the intercessors — cannot supply.

Jesus’ story of the friend who came at midnight (Luke 11:5-8) illustrates and confirms the role of the intercessor. The host in this story has a friend in need who comes at midnight. He also has a friend with bread. Unable to meet the need of his midnight guest, this host goes to his other friend — the one with bread — and pleads boldly and shamelessly with importunity until he receives what is needed. His plead­ing releases bread to sustain the life of his needy friend. He is a go-between, an intercessor.

James reminds us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (5:16). This doesn’t mean prayer is powerful in and of itself. When one person prays for another, no force, energy, or vibes flow from the one to the other. All the power in prayer is God’s power released and activated by prayer. Our prayers reach the ears of God, who then moves in response to our prayers.

People desperately need what only God can give. Many families are dysfunctional. Many churches are stagnant or declining. The majority of people around us do not have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And they need far more than we are able to give them. They need God’s power and grace, and God chooses to give it in response to our asking. That’s the role of intercessors.

3. Intercession is the Key to Great Works←↰⤒🔗

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said to His disciples, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:12-13). In going to the Father, Jesus would be given all power in heaven and on earth. Thus empowered, He would continue His work on earth in a different way: through His disciples.

Their asking in His name would link them to Him. By means of prayer, His power would be at their dis­posal as they carried on His ministry “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In answer to prayer Christ sup­plies the power and His disciples do the work. But notice that Jesus was addressing these surprising words not just to the disciples, but to “anyone who has faith in me.” That includes you, if you are a Christian, and me.

What a powerful combination! Christ on the throne of the universe, empowering us here on earth to build His kingdom. We ask, He acts, and the work gets done — great works to the glory of the Father.

4. Prayer Transforms Society←↰⤒🔗

Paul, writing to Timothy, urges “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in author­ity; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). A peaceful, quiet, transformed society is God’s ideal. Requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving offered up by God’s people are the God-ordained means by which transformation is brought about.

We are beginning to see the reality of this in some places today. There are places in the world where a single church spearheaded a prayer ministry for places that were so in need that the police were often called in two or three times a day. Drugs were sold freely. Unemployment was high. Most of the families were dysfunctional in some form or another. All this began to change when the church took a prayer-care approach to the situation. They stimulated concerted prayer and reached out to needy residents with com­passion ministries. The things like the following started to happen:

• People got jobs the day after they were released from prison.
   
• People who openly and angrily resisted the gospel became converted.
   
• Out-of-control teenagers kicked out of school for unruliness turned into hard-working students.
   
• Drug dealers moved out.
   
• Many people started going to church.
   
• Many people made commitments to Christ.
   
• Young people got involved in the church’s youth ministries.
   
• Several new Bible studies started.

Crime rates dropped so dramatically — from two or three calls to the police a day to one or two calls a week — that the police asked churches to organize con­certed prayer in other areas with similar problems. Prayer is making the difference.

Is this not the kind of transformation God had in mind when He spoke of prayer as the means to make it possible for believers to “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”?

5. People are Saved through Prayer←↰⤒🔗

The Bible clearly requires us to pray for people who are not saved. Jesus modeled prayer for the unsaved when He prayed that His prayer was not for the disci­ples alone, but also for those who would believe in Him through their message (John 17:20). And the Apostle Paul modeled this pattern of praying for the unsaved when he said, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved” (Rom. 10:1). In 1 Timothy 2:4, the Holy Spirit reminds us that God would “have all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” God’s plan to make that happen is found in the first verses of the same para­graph: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplica­tions, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” (v. 1). And when people are saved as a result of prayer, the Spirit declares, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour” (v. 3).

6. Prayer defeats Satan←↰⤒🔗

Two powerful forces work in the world today: the power of God and the power of Satan. The power of God is infinitely greater, but we are affected by both.

Since Satan’s power is greater than that of humans, we are constantly at risk. Paul reminds us that we struggle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiri­tual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). In order to stand, we are challenged to put on the whole armor of God and to pray always “with all prayer and suppli­cation in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (v. 18).

In response to prayer, God brings His power to our defense so we are able to stand against the devil’s schemes. When the Israelites, on their way to the Promised Land, were confronted by the devil-inspired Amalekites, Moses’ intercession moved the hands of God to intervene and give the battle to Joshua’s army (Ex. 17:8-13). Today, Jesus Christ sits on the throne of glory and lifts holy hands in behalf of embattled believ­ers. And we, His people, stand and pray with Him even as Aaron and Hur stood by Moses to support him.

When Peter was being severely tested by Satan, Jesus came to his defense with prayer and then explained to Peter why and for what He had prayed: “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32).

The devil dreads our prayers more than anything. A mighty prayer warrior once said, “Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” It’s no wonder Satan trembles. By means of prayer, the power of the omnipotent God of heaven and earth is brought against him. He doesn’t stand a chance.

Transforming Prayer←⤒🔗

Prayer can move mountains. It can change human hearts, families, neighborhoods, cities, and nations. It’s the ultimate source of power because it is, in real­ity, the power of Almighty God.

Prayer can do what political action cannot, what education cannot, what military strength cannot, and what mission committees cannot. All these are impo­tent by comparison.

By prayer the kingdom of God is built, and by prayer the kingdom of Satan is destroyed. Where there is no prayer, there are no great works, and there is no building of the kingdom. Where there is much prayer and fervent prayer, there are great gains for the king­dom: God’s rule is established, His power is directed, His will is done, society is transformed, lost persons are saved, and saints are enabled to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). Is this not enough to compel us to “continue in prayer” and always labor “fervently ... in prayer” (Col. 4:2, 12)?