How to Pray for MissionariesSample

For Courage

Paul preached the gospel in Ephesus despite dramatic opposition from both Jews and pagans. Eight years later, when he writes to the church in Ephesus, he is under house arrest in Caesar’s court in Rome. Does this fearless missionary still need courage?

Twice, Paul asks the Ephesian believers to pray for his courage! Later, Paul tells his young missionary teammate, Timothy, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV). Today’s missionaries are in the same need of this prayer support for their courage. As their prayer supporters, we need to “be alert,” to “always keep on praying…with all kinds of prayers and requests,” and to pray that they will “fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” One way to be alert is to read missionaries’ newsletters and ministry updates and to pray through the details they share.

Today we will focus on praying for courage as missionaries communicate God’s Word. If your missionary works in a restricted-access country, they need courage and discernment from the Holy Spirit to know when and how to share God’s Word. If your missionary primarily trains local believers, pray also for their students to have the courage to share Christ with their families and neighbors and to bring the gospel as missionaries themselves to unreached peoples near and far! In our prayers, let us echo Paul’s request to “pray that I may declare [the gospel] fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:20 NIV).