Your Missionary's Greatest Prayer Needs

Do you sometimes struggle to know how to intercede for your missionaries? Are you responsible for writing up missionary prayer requests and/or leading others in corporate prayer, yet are sometimes at a loss for specific needs?

Missionaries need prayer more than anything else. But effective praying must address the core issues of spiritual battle and the struggles of daily life and ministry. The following 31 requests can be used as a monthly prayer guide or as a prayer prompter for those times when you want to pray specifically but are unaware of the missionary's particular needs.

1. An ever-increasing understanding of the character of God and an ever-deepening love for Him.

2. A daily experience of the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit for their life and ministry.

3. Self discipline to spend quality time in daily Bible reading and prayer, with uplifting times of worship even if they lack the opportunity to participate in meaningful corporate worship services.

4. The manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit in all their thinking, speaking and doing.

5. A constant "weaning" from this world and its value system, living only for that which will last for eternity.

6. The keeping of short accounts with the Lord, their family, their co-workers and others, that there would be no unresolved conflicts, harbored bitterness or other unconfessed sin.

7. For unwavering moral purity, despite submersion in immoral societies, extended travel alone, and Satan's efforts to compromise their integrity.

8. An increasing understanding and exercise of the gifts God's Spirit has given them.

9. Regular accountability with their spouse and/or other individuals who will help them assess their spiritual growth and faithfulness.

10. Good health and wise stewardship of their physical body, including discipline in the areas of diet, exercise and sleep.

11. For couples-healthy, growing marriages characterized by intentional communication and mutual love and submission.

12. For singles-companionship and good integration with other single and married co-workers.

13. For parents-time and skills to be good parents, and the ability to communicate and model love and truth to each child.

14. For missionary children-physical and moral protection, spiritual regeneration, ability to make right choices based on biblical principles, and enthusiastic ownership of their parents' calling and ministry.

15. Wisdom in dealing with the needs of aging parents.

16. Good stewardship and management of the time and money God has entrusted to them.

17. Holy boldness and effectiveness in sharing the gospel in a wide variety of contexts. For those in support roles-insight into opportunities to share their faith, even if their primary responsibility is not evangelism.

18. Dedication to life-long improvement of their fluency in the language(s) of the people to whom they minister.

19. Diligence in continuing to work at understanding and adapting to the culture in which they work.

20. The ability to objectively assess and reassess their priorities, demonstrating flexibility and willingness to change for the improvement of ministry.

21. Love toward fellow workers despite differences in background, viewpoint, and giftedness, and daily demonstrations of Christian unity, even at the cost of personal "rights" and preferences.
22. Growing faith and the ability to believe God for greater things in their own life and in ministry-even in times of discouragement and seeming defeat.

23. The provision of their financial support.

24. The ability to communicate clearly the joys and difficulties of their ministry to their supporters to involve them more actively in the ministry.

25. Effective discipleship of new believers, both in formal study and informal mentoring situations.

26. The conversion or discovery of key believers who can be catalysts and leaders around whom an effective ministry can be built.

27. The wisdom to know when to entrust local believers with spiritual responsibility and leadership and the grace to allow them to make mistakes.

28. Favor in the eyes of the government under which they live and work and wisdom to know how to relate to civil officials.

29. An attitude of humility and servanthood in working with and under national Christian leaders and national churches.

30. A spirit of cooperation with other evangelical missionaries and church groups, and the development of creative approaches to utilizing all available resources in order to more effectively reach people for Christ.

31. An open, mutually supportive relationship with the leaders of their sending organization and
churches.

• For daily updates go to http://imb.org/compassionnet
• For frequent updates, call the PrayerLine at (800) 395-PRAY (7729). In Richmond, Va., call 355-6581.
• For monthly printed updates, call (800) 999-3113 for a subscription to the Global PrayerGram.

Reprint from theCOMMISSION magazine of the International Mission Board.
IMB 50M 6/00 P1022N