Prayer for Missions

Several months ago Agnes Spidal gave me an article from E.M. Bounds about the role of prayer in missions.  I remember reading it and being convicted.  Then the article sat on my desk under a pile until last week when I cleaned off my desk.  This simple article, convicted me again and I knew I needed to share it with others.  I brought it to our Global Outreach Committee meeting last week and it encouraged us to be in prayer that the Lord would send laborers into His harvest field from New Life Church.  If you would like to read some of Bounds' stuff on prayer you can click here.  The chapter on prayer in missions is chapter 13.  You can click on it on the left side of the page.

For now, I'll just give you a few quotes that really inspired me:

The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the spirit of missions. Our Lord Jesus Christ was Himself the first missionary. His promise and advent composed the first missionary movement. The missionary spirit is not simply a phase of the Gospel, not a mere feature of the plan of salvation, but is its very spirit and life. The missionary movement is the Church of Jesus Christ marching in militant array, with the design of possessing the whole world of mankind for Christ. Whoever is touched by the Spirit of God is fired by the missionary spirit.

The key of all missionary success is prayer. That key is in the hands of the home churches. The trophies won by our Lord in heathen lands will be won by praying missionaries, not by professional workers in foreign lands. More especially will this success be won by saintly praying in the churches at home. The home church on her knees fasting and praying, is the great base of spiritual supplies, the sinews of war, and the pledge of victory in this dire and final conflict. Financial resources are
not the real sinews of war in this fight. Machinery in itself carries no power to break down heathen walls, open effectual doors and win heathen hearts to Christ. Prayer alone can do the deed.

Is the harvest great? Are the labourers few? Then “pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest.” Oh, that a great wave of prayer would sweep over the Church asking God to send out a great army of labourers into the needy harvest fields of the earth!