A Prayer for the Church in All Nations

My people and I are blessed to be part of a church that believes in making disciple in all nations. I mean, we believe in it to the extent that we have a written plan, shared and reviewed with the church regularly, that details how we will minister in every single time zone/continent (except for Antarctica)/state/every other sector that we can feasibly get people into to share the gospel. It’s crazy good that we are that focused on spreading the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

And I know that we aren’t the only ones.

Maybe I’m just more aware of the need for all nations to hear the gospel and be discipled. Maybe it’s a revival thing God is doing. I don’t know. But I do that we are now more than ever obeying the command to go to all nations and preach the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. I can’t even fathom how some people can live on this earth, never hearing the Name of Jesus. He is such Life to me, I can’t imagine trying to navigate this life without Him. How do they do it? And moreover, why don’t we go shouting His praises ever more fervently? There is a whole world who doesn’t know!!

If you too share the burden for reaching every nation and people group with the gospel, perhaps you will identify with this prayer  from the Lutheran Book of Prayer:

“Our Father in heaven, who gave Your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus, into death for the sins of the whole world, look with compassion on the many millions of sinners who yet sit in darkness and the shadow of eternal death. Send messengers to proclaim Your Word in the benighted corners of this earth where it has not been heard. Strengthen Your church where she is weak or persecuted. Send teachers to reform her where she is in error. Raise up pastors in every nation under heaven. BLess those in every land who baptize and teach in Your name. Defend them from all evil, give them a rich measure of Your peace and joy, and enable them to speak Your Word with boldness. Open doors for the Gospel, and empower by Your Holy Spirit those who hear it to believe it and be saved. Let the hordes of Satan not prevail against Your church or snatch the seed of Your Word from people’s hearts. Call out darkness into your marvelous light a kingdom of priests and a holy nation from every nation, tribe, people, and language, that many may share in the eternal banquet You have prepared for those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For His sake we are bold to come before Your throne of grace, trusting in Your mercy. Amen.”