It is easy to say “we are praying for our missionaries” without ever getting specific. Specific prayer takes a little more knowledge — and it is worth it. How can you know when God has answered unless you know what you asked Him to do?

Ask these questions before you pray

  • Who are we trying to reach as a church, and what do we actually know about them?
  • What are our missionaries asking God to accomplish right now?
  • What obstacles — language, culture, government, health — are they facing?
  • How will we know when God has answered?
  • Are we praying together, as a church body, or only individually?

What to actually pray for

  • That God will prepare the hearts of an unreached people to hear, believe, and obey the Gospel.
  • That God will raise up laborers — translators, church planters, and the support workers who make their work possible.
  • That God will raise up churches to intentionally prepare workers to help bring in the harvest of souls. 
  • Protection, health, and endurance for missionaries serving in difficult or remote places.
  • That your church would develop an ongoing culture of praying for God’s global mission, not just a once-a-year missions Sunday.

Make it concrete

Praying for “missionaries around the world” in general is easy to forget. Praying for one family, in one place, working with one people group, is much harder to forget — and much easier to keep doing. Consider adopting a specific unreached people group as a church or small group, so prayer has a name and a face attached to it.

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