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How are You a Sender?

When we talk about Senders and Goers, the first thought that comes to mind is Senders = Money. Don’t get me wrong, financial support is certainly important, but there’s an even more important tool of sending. Drumroll please...... Prayer. When you pray for a ministry and not just “bless that ministry God,” but specifically pray for the needs of the ministry, then your heart grows more connected to that ministry. You become invested in the ministry’s challenges and successes. Let’s see how prayer impacted the Apostle Paul as he began his first missionary journey.

One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. (‭‭Acts 13‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

The local church understood the value of Paul and Barnabas’ mission. They knew that what they were going to do was “a special work.” They were invested because they “fasted, prayed, and sent them on their way.” The church was obviously financially supporting the missionary trip, but the act of fasting and prayer revealed where they were truly invested.

How should you pray?

When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples to proclaim God’s message, He told them this…

“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Did you catch that? There’s a shortage of workers in the mission field. Jesus told his disciples to pray for the mission, pray for the resources needed to meet an overwhelming need, and pray for God to SEND more workers.

How can you go?

Find a ministry that is reaching the world in a way that aligns with your heart, and then PRAY for that ministry.

• Pray for the person or people involved in that ministry, their families, their safety, and their encouragement.
• Pray that God would strengthen their faith.
• Pray that people would become invested in the needs of that ministry.
• Pray that God will provide the resources needed.
• Pray that God will bless their efforts and bring the harvest.
• Pray that God will SEND more workers to the harvest.

I have a ministry that’s special to my heart. It’s called OneMessage.tv. My friend and I saw there was a need to connect unreached people groups with the gospel in a way they could hear and understand. You see, nearly 70 to 80% of people in the world are ORAL learners, meaning they don’t read but learn by listening. With so many groups of people not able to read God’s Word in their own languages, we discovered a fresh way to meet that need. We produce a library of video Bible stories, from Creation through the Resurrection, using native speakers and indigenous actors, so oral learners can see and hear the gospel in their heart language and with their own people acting it out. To say our whole ministry’s foundation is prayer is an understatement. We simply can’t reach the people groups that we do without people praying for us. So SENDERS can be PRAYERS!

Praying for a missionary or ministry or people group isn’t the least you can do. It is the BEST that you can do!

PRAY:

Dear Heavenly Father, where is my call to the Great Commission? Please show me a ministry that I can come alongside with my concern and my prayers for their mission. Please help me to grow my responsibility in reaching out to all nations.