10 December 2023

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

(Growing in Faith, in Truth & in Spirit: GFTS 24)

In Ephesians 6, after exhorting the readers to put on the whole Armour of God, Paul then gave this advice: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Eph.6:18}. This seems to indicate that the Armour would not be complete without Prayer. We are to pray for “all the saints” because “our adversary, like a roaring lion seeks to devour” us all (1 Pet.5:8). The devil seeks to “steal, kill and destroy” all God’s people because he is fearful of what we can do in the Name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ has given us “authority over all the power of the enemy” (John 10:10; Luke 10:19). So, Satan tries to fool believers with ignorance and fear so that we will not be a threat to him and his kingdom.

Hence, we are to “pray for all the saints” so that they will be protected from the devil, and also have the wisdom and faith to defeat him. This can only be true when we persevere in always praying in the Holy Spirit. The reason is that sometimes we do not know what or how to pray, but the Holy Spirit is our Helper and He prays through us (Rom.8: 26-27).

Paul also requests prayer for himself: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel…” (v.19). Two things are requested: to be fearless in preaching and for the Gospel to be clearly understood. If people cannot understand the message they cannot respond to the Gospel. That is why we need to pray for cross-cultural missionaries. They have to speak in the language of the people God sends them to and also be able to speak clearly for the Gospel to be understood by the hearers. Paul’s second request is that he might be fearless. The devil attacks the missionaries with fear to stop or hinder them from being effective in soulwinning.

Paul mentions this in his prayer request to his readers: “Pray for us that the Word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith” (2 Thess.3:1-2).

Many missionaries we know have been attacked by people influenced by demonic forces. Some have even been killed while serving God in the mission fields. Why? Maybe it is because they were not covered by the prayers of God’s people. Our prayers keep the missionaries protected and effective in the Gospel ministry. Prayer changes things and the situations they are in. Prayer opens doors for the Gospel and prepares hearts to be receptive to the Word of the Lord. That is what Paul told his readers: “Pray for us that the Word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you”.

Praying for missionaries is our responsibility. The Great Commission commands every Christian to “go into all the world to preach the Gospel”. But those who do not go must support those who have obeyed God – by prayer, encouragement and practical support. 

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