Go Beyond

If you are a member of Kingsland or have recently visited, please check your mailbox for your copy of 40 Days of Prayer for the Nations — our missions ministry’s 2016 Prayer Guide. We are encouraging every family at Kingsland to pray through this guide starting the Sunday before Thanksgiving through the end of the year.

Why pray for the nations?

Evidence of our passion is most often found in the language of our prayers. John Knox, the great Scottish Reformer, pleaded with God, “Give me Scotland or I die.” George Whitfield, probably the most famous evangelist in the eighteenth century, prayed, “O Lord, give me souls or take my soul.”

As a Christ-follower, I am passionately concerned about the spiritual welfare of the nations. Like Paul, I feel the weight of my debt or obligation to all peoples (Romans 1:14). Paul considered himself a debtor to all who did not know Christ. This obligation to share Jesus extends to all peoples.

Prayer is a key component in fulfilling our obligation to the nations. I am a Christ-follower because others prayed for me and moved in my direction with the good news about Jesus. I will be forever grateful for those who invited me to experience true fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

This prayer guide was born out of my concern for the spiritual welfare of the nations. At Kingsland, we have accepted the responsibility to invite all people to experience true fulfillment in Jesus Christ, one home at a time. The Great Commission uses the words panta ta ethne or “all peoples” — a reference to every people group on the planet.

Today, there are more than 6,600 remaining unreached people groups in the world. An unreached people group is one that lacks enough followers of Christ and resources to evangelize their own people. We have an obligation to pray for these people groups, to move in their direction, and to invite them to experience true fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

I invite you to pray for the nations over the next forty days and throughout the new year. The prayer prompts that I wrote for this guide are those that I personally pray daily for our work among the peoples of the world. As you pray, allow each prayer prompt to ascend to heaven in the language of your own prayers.

And, while you pray for the nations, please remember to look for opportunities daily to invite all people to experience true fulfillment in Jesus Christ, one home at a time.