Praying for Missionaries
Preparing Your Church to Pray for Missionaries
Dan Bouchelle
People don’t do what they ought to do. They do what they are prepared to do. They do what they remember to do and feel capable of doing. This explains why there isn’t more prayer for missionaries in most churches.
It isn’t hard to create a list of the top reasons why we don’t pray for our missionaries more:
We forget. We’re all busy, distracted, and overwhelmed with other matters. It just doesn’t ever get on our mental desktop.
We don’t know how to do it well. What would we say when we sat down to do it? What do we say after praying “Lord be with ___________?”
What don’t know our missionaries very well. We don’t know what they’re experiencing, what they need, or if our prayers are making a difference.
We have more pressing matters that distract us. We see the people at our church. We hear the stories of those in need in local ministries. When we do pray for people in church, we focus on those we see, not those unseen and far away.
So, what can church leaders in general do to change this equation and get the church involved in praying for missionaries? After all, prayer is not something we do to support the work of mission, it IS the work of mission.
If you really want people in your church to be praying for missions, you have to prepare them to pray and prompt them to pray. That means you have to make sure the following is happening:
Build a meaningful relationship between your missionaries and your church family.
Tell the story of your missionaries in your church. And do so often.
Get and share regular updates on what is happening in your missionaries’ lives and the work they are doing.
Communicate specific prayer needs of your missionaries to the church family.
Report how prayers have made a difference.
This probably sounds more difficult than it is, but it does require work. Here are some suggestions for ways to accomplish each step.
Building a meaningful relationship between your missionaries and your church family.
This is not rocket science. It just requires a little organization and coordination. Before your missionaries go to the field, or while they are back in your city for their next home assignment, make sure you tell their story in multiple forums and get them in the social circles of your church. You can interview them in worship, have them share their stories in Bible classes (perhaps combining classes over two to three weeks), and have class or small group gatherings host social events with your missionaries.
Your congregation needs to know the backstory of your missionaries. Where did they come from? How did they hear the call to go to the field? What drives them now? What are they passionate about? We pray for people we know.
Telling the story of your missionaries in your church.
Between visits from your missionaries, it really helps if someone from your staff, eldership, or missions committee makes an annual visit to experience the ministry and can come share stories with your church. If the people who control the message in your church have been to your mission sites and love your workers and the people they are reaching, they will share those stories in your church. They won’t even have to be reminded. It will flow naturally.
Make sure that the people who control the focus of your congregation know your missionaries, go see them, and show what they have experienced. When you have people on your mission site, take pictures and capture video with your smart phones. You can easily make a three to five minute video that captures the missionary’s story with pictures of places and people where they work. Include these at various times and places throughout the year. You have to make the remote and invisible, near and visible. We pray for people we see.
Getting and sharing regular updates on what is happening in your missionaries lives and work.
If your international workers are not sending regular reports with some stories and metrics on the work, you need to make sure that happens. Sometimes this isn’t happening because no one is asking for it. Sometimes it isn’t happening because no one at the home church is reading it and the missionaries decide it’s wasted effort. But, if you have a regular reporting process that is being passed on to the church, you are preparing your church to pray. If we want people to be praying for our missions, we will have to create multiple redundant systems of communication. None of those systems needs to be long or complicated, but they have to be consistent. We pray for people who are on our minds.
Communicating specific prayer needs of your missionaries to the church family.
General prayers have a short shelf life. Praying “Be with ______.” will die out quickly. But praying, “Lord, please give Charlie favor with the government official who is obstructing his project.” will stick. You can easily do this by creating a prayer email or text message system that gives specific needs. Make sure your staff, elders, missions committee, Bible class leaders, and small group leaders receive it. If you set up a system where people can sign up to get prayer updates, that will help create even more awareness. But, this has to be maintained with a workable schedule, such as monthly or at least quarterly. We pray when we know what to pray for.
Reporting how prayers have made a difference.
Nothing prompts prayer more than seeing how God answered our prayers. If you only present requests but don’t share results, you won’t get a good response. When breakthroughs happen or when milestones are achieved, make sure your church knows. The same communication channels need to be activated for answers as for requests. If people know how last month’s prayer made a difference, they’ll be more likely to pray this month. We pray when we see that is makes a difference.
Now I can already hear the unspoken reaction. That is so much work, or so expensive.
I know it takes money and time to get to know your missionaries, visit them, and share their stories and needs. But, what is really a waste of time and money is supporting missionaries with money, but not supporting them emotionally and spiritually.
If you will invest a little more time and money to prepare your people to pray for your missionaries, you'll find out that you have more money and energy to do missions. When people see the impact they are having globally, they will engage more deeply not only in prayer, but in mission locally. Preparing your church to pray for your missionaries is one of the best ways to build health into your congregation as they get connected to God’s global transformation.
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