Prayer and World Missions

And now we pause to pray. Thank You, Father, for the Word. It's the lamp that guides us, and it's the food that nourishes us, and it's the sword that defends us, and the water that cleanses us. Now help us to learn from it, and help us to practice what we learn. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for His sake, Amen.

If you and I had visited the city of Antioch in Syria about the year 45 AD, we would have seen a beautiful metropolis. In fact, Antioch was called Antioch the Beautiful, Queen of the East. There were about a half a million people living in Antioch. It was a cosmopolitan city, a great center of trade and business. The Imperial Mint was there and also the center of government for the district.

But the most important people in Antioch were not at the Board of Trade, or the Mint, or the capital building. The most important people in Antioch were meeting together, worshipping God and praying.

Acts 13:1-3: "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.' And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed unto Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus."

Now this was the beginning of the worldwide missionary outreach of the church. In Acts 2, Peter had opened the door of faith to the Jews, then in Acts 8 to the Samaritans, and Acts 10 to the Gentiles. But all of this ministry had been very close to home. The pattern given in Acts 1:8 was "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and then unto the uttermost parts of the earth." And the Apostle Paul was going to be the key man to take the Gospel out to those heathen, pagan Gentiles who needed the Lord Jesus Christ so desperately.

I say it again: the most important people in Antioch were the people who were meeting together in that church assembly, worshipping God and praying. This was the beginning of the worldwide missionary outreach of the church.

Now this raises a very important question, and we're going to try to answer it in our study today: What is the relationship between prayer and reaching a lost world with the Gospel? I don't think anybody has to be convinced that it is the task of the local church to reach a lost world with the Gospel. Not just our own Jerusalem, wherever we may be living, or Judea or Samaria—our neighbors—but we also need to reach out to the uttermost parts of the earth.

It’s a sad thing when a local church becomes ingrown, when the Gospel becomes a commodity to protect instead of a treasure to share. It's a sad thing when the pulpit does not herald forth the needs of a lost world, not just the needs of a lost city or a lost neighborhood.

I agree with Dr. Oswald J. Smith that the light that shines the farthest is going to shine the brightest at home. I don't think a church should use missions as a substitute for local evangelism; both are important. Here we have a church in Antioch, and this church was meeting together ministering.

That word "ministering" means serving the Lord in a priestly fashion. The Greek word gives us our English word "liturgy." As they ministered to the Lord, they were praying, they were worshipping, they were reading the Word. As they ministered to the Lord, the Holy Spirit of God began to work, and from that church, there went forth the first missionaries to the Gentiles.

Well, what is the relationship between prayer and reaching a lost world with the Gospel? I think the answer is this: Prayer meets a twofold need in the area of missionary outreach. Number one, prayer supplies the workers, and number number two, prayer supports the workers.

Let’s begin with that first need: Prayer supplies the workers. Our Lord Jesus made a statement in Luke 10:2 that we must pay attention to just now: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.'"

Now, He was saying this to the harvesters themselves. "The harvest truly is great." We have no problem believing that. You can look at the neighborhood around you and know that the harvest is great. I trust that you read some missionary news in various magazines, perhaps your own denominational publications, and you realize the tremendous harvest that is out there just waiting for laborers. The problem is not that there is no harvest; the problem is that we don't have the laborers.

Now if you want to know why we don't have the laborers, just look at Luke 9:57-62, the previous paragraph: "It came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, 'Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.'" Ah, here’s a volunteer. "Jesus said unto him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.'" That's the last you heard of this fellow. Why? He was looking for comfort; he was looking for security, and he couldn't find it.

He said unto another, 'Follow me.' Now here’s one that was called. God the Son spoke and said, 'Follow Me.' What a privilege! What a challenge! 'But he said, 'Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.' Jesus said unto him, 'Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.'"

There’s nothing wrong with taking care of your family, nothing wrong with showing respect to your father, but notice his statement: "me first," "suffer me first." That's bad grammar, and it's also bad theology. We don't put ourselves first; we put the Lord first. "Another also said, 'Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.' And Jesus said unto him, 'No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" This is why the laborers are few.

As I was reading this, I was thinking about the number of people that God called who had no formal training. Now don't get me wrong, I am in favor of preparation for ministry. I have taught in two different schools, I've lectured in a number of schools, I've written some books that are used as textbooks in school. I am thankful for the preparation God gave to me in school; I thank God for it. But every once in a while, God reaches down and says to us, "Now look, if I want to train somebody My way, let Me do it."

Charles Spurgeon never had any formal training in ministry. Neither did G. Campbell Morgan, the great British expositor, or Harry Ironside. I had the privilege of pastoring the church that he pastored for some eighteen years; Ironside had no formal training for ministry.

D.L. Moody was a shoe salesman whose education probably was at the level of sixth or seventh grade. Billy Sunday, a baseball player. You see, God can reach down and get ahold of people. People like to sing "I’ll go where You want me to go," but they won't go. They pray, "Oh God, supply workers," but they won't be available themselves.

Prayer supplies the workers. We are commanded to pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest field. Are you doing that? Pastor, on Sundays when you pray, do you pray, "Oh God, Lord of the harvest, call from our church people to go out and do the job"?

Some years ago, a very good friend of mine, Dr. E. Myers Harrison, gave a missionary message that I cannot forget. It was a small group of people, but I will never forget the sermon. Dr. Harrison is now home with the Lord, but he was a great servant of God and a great missionary statesman. He said that each of us as Christians must hear what God has to say.

There is the command from above: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Have you heard that? The command from above. I hear people say, "Well now, God wants our church to be different. We're not supposed to have a missionary program." I don't believe that. I believe that the command from above is given to every Christian and to every assembly that God has raised up.

Would notice in Acts 13 that God went to the beginning of the list, verse one, Barnabas, and the end of the list, Saul, and He put those two together? Later on, it became Saul and Barnabas, then Paul and Barnabas, and Paul became the leader of the group. Barnabas and Saul were two of their best men.

What would happen to your church, my friend, if God called your pastor to go to the mission field? "Oh," you'd say, "what would happen? My, we'd lose our pastor." You'd send your pastor. You wouldn't lose him; you'd keep him, because he'd be going out and building up the church around the world.

We get selfish in local churches. We do not pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers. Are you willing to give your best young people? Are you willing to give your best young couples? There's a businessman in your church that God wants to speak to. Are you willing to let him go, or are you thinking only of building up your own local church here at home?

The church that does not pray for laborers is disobeying the Word of God. Now it’s interesting that this group was not meeting in a missionary conference; they were ministering to the Lord in their regular ministry. They were preaching and teaching, they were serving, they were winning souls, they were worshipping, they were praying. While they were involved in a worship service, God called two of their best men to go out to the mission field.

This is what happened to Isaiah. Isaiah went into the temple to pray. The throne on earth was empty, but the throne in heaven was full. And he saw the glory of God and he heard the voice that said, "Who shall go? Whom shall we send?" And Isaiah said, "Here am I, send me." He went into the service as a worshipper, he walked out as a worker. He went in the service as a spectator and came out as a participant. His life was turned around.

Prayer supplies workers. The Holy Spirit asked for their two best men to be given, and they went. "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.' And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away."

The Greek says they turned them loose, they freed them. They said, "You're free from all the work you were going to do here; go out and do what God wants you to do." The whole church was involved in this praying. Prayer supplies workers. That's the first need that is met when we pray.

The history of the church is the record of the conflict between closed minds and open doors. As you read the history of the church beginning in the book of Acts, you find that wherever God had praying people, there were open doors. Wherever God had people like the Apostle Peter in Acts 10-11, there were open doors of ministry. Exciting new things were happening because people were praying.

You know, if you and I could improve our praying, everything else in our lives would improve. We have a tendency to think that our problems and our praying are separated from each other; that's not true. In fact, we'd probably have fewer problems if we really knew how to pray.

I believe that the answer to every need, every burden, every problem, every puzzle of life is in prayer. Prayer is one of the greatest privileges that we have, and I trust that my prayer life and your prayer life will really improve because if we can improve our praying, we can improve every area in our Christian life and ministry.

Prayer supplies workers. That's the first need that is met when we pray. Secondly, prayer supports the workers. How do you go about praying for missionaries? When Barnabas and Paul left the church at Antioch, how did these people pray for them?

Did you ever go through Paul's letters and find out what his prayer requests were? It’s rather interesting. I hear people: "Now Lord, bless the missionaries." Well, what does that mean? And we pray about various needs. Well, listen to Paul's prayer requests. How do you pray for the people who are out there serving the Lord on the mission field? And by the way, not just those who are far away, also those who are at home.

Romans 15:30-32: "Now 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." The word "strive" means to agonize, to really put some effort into it. "That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea." There’s the first request: for personal safety, for protection. Do you pray for the protection of your missionaries? There are enemies on the field who hate the Gospel, who hate the missionaries.

"And that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints." Now here he’s asking for God's blessing on his ministry. He was taking a special missionary offering to the saints in Jerusalem. So here are two requests: deliverance from the enemy, blessing on the ministry. "That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God."

Now here he’s requesting God's guidance in his travels, God's direction in his plans. Do you pray that God will direct the missionaries as they travel, as they use their time? "And may with you be refreshed." Do you pray for spiritual and physical refreshment for the missionaries? Now here are four very special requests: for personal deliverance, for blessing on the ministry, for guidance in travel and wisdom in making plans, and for refreshment, spiritually and physically, in the things of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:9-11: "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; Ye also helping together by prayer for us." You see, he’s saying, "I was going through difficulty; now you pray that God will give us the deliverance that we need." You never know what our missionaries are going through.

He prayed the same thing in Philippians 1:19. He was in prison, about to be tried for his faith. Verse 19: "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation"—my deliverance—"through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."

In 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, Paul prays like this: "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you." Do you pray that God will bless the teaching, the preaching of the Word of God, the literature ministry? Are you praying that God will give His Word great success? "And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith." Once again, he’s asking them to pray for his physical deliverance and protection.

Ephesians 6:18-20: "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." Do you ever pray about language study, about preaching in a foreign language?

The power of God upon the Word. "That utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly." Oh, a missionary can't afford to be timid. "To make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds." Paul didn't say, "Pray that my prison doors might be opened." He said, "Pray that my mouth might be opened, that I might be able to share the Word of God as I should."

Colossians 4:3-4: "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." Now these are some of the prayer requests that Paul shared with his praying congregations.

I'm sure the people at Antioch prayed this way when they sent forth Barnabas and Saul on their ministry. They prayed, "Now Father, protect them as they travel. Give them wisdom as they travel. Guide them that they might make the right decisions in the use of their time. Protect them from the evil one. Protect them from wicked people who don't agree with the Gospel. Bless their utterance. Bless as they preach the Word of God. Help as they share the Word of God with people who have never heard it before."

In Romans 1:10, Paul says this: "Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you." Oh, that we might pray for God to give prosperity—spiritual, physical prosperity—upon His missionaries in the use of their time, in the use of their opportunities.

Oh, that we would pray earnestly, agonizing in prayer, that God might use His servants for His glory. Something happens when churches pray because as churches pray, God can reach into the church and call out people to serve Him in other places.

The harvest is great; the laborers are few. Are you praying that God will supply the workers? Something happens when churches pray because when churches pray, God supports the workers and God gives to them all that they need to accomplish the work that He wants them to accomplish. One of our great needs today is for us as God's people to be praying for our missionary laborers, praying that God will use them, that God will bless them, that they might have many, many souls because of their labor of love.

Our Father in heaven, thank You for the privilege of prayer. Help us to be in a right relationship with one another that we might come before You and lift up holy hands and that our hearts might not be filled with malice or hatred or any unloving attitude. Cleanse our hearts. May our praying, oh God, be such that You can bless us. We don't come just to ask for ourselves; we realize we're a part of a big family around the world.

Bless all of Your children today and help us to be a blessing one to another. Help us to learn how to pray. Some of our friends are praying about specific needs; meet those needs. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord that Your name alone might be glorified, Amen.