This month we are taking one of Jesus’ most famous parables to shape our prayers. Many of us have heard this so often that we can miss the scandal of the story. Slowing down to pray our way through it helps us rediscover the power in Jesus’ words.
Read MoreMy heart is heavy when I consider the evil perpetrated around the world in the name of national or racial identity. I don’t know where to turn other than Jesus! He has cleansed hearts and lands before; let’s ask Him together to do it again in our days!
Read MoreUndoubtedly, wealth is one of the resources with which the church in the west is blessed; how do we responsibly steward this gift in cross-cultural missions? I wish I could tell you we have all the answers – we don’t. I’m asking you to join in the wrestling by praying through the following parable with us this month.
Read MoreWe have been praying our way through the gospel of Luke in 2022, and I am grateful to you for starting the journey with us! However, as I asked the Lord what to pray this month over Ukraine, Psalm 31 kept coming to my heart. Friend, please join with me in praying this ancient song over the current situation in Ukraine.
Read MoreAs we pray this section of Luke 7, we are led right into the heart of Jesus. We are given glimpses into his understanding and compassion, especially for those who are drawn to his tenderness and mercy. How can we pray Jesus’ heart for everyone we encounter?!
Read MoreHere at MRN, our team’s prayer life has been shaped by praying the scriptures. We take a story or a brief section of a book from the Bible and let it shape how and what we pray. We allow what God has already talked to us about to shape how we talk to him! It’s a simple exercise, but it has deepened and enriched our prayer life.
Read MoreThank you for journeying with us this year as we wrestled with both the "how" and the "why" of praying for missions. To wrap up 2021, Andy Johnson speaks to us of the tension missionaries wrestle with between personal and Kingdom wins and provides guidance on how to pray for them.
Read MoreThroughout 2021, we’ve highlighted both the "how" and the "what" to pray for missionaries. This month, David Allen brings us our final installment of the "how" emails by speaking to us of how giving thanks is an important role we all can pray in the Kingdom.
Read MoreWe are only able to pour into others as we have been filled ourselves; empty pitchers pour no lemonade! Every worker on the field knows this, but they daily wrestle with the tension between self-care and self-sacrifice. Speaking from a well of experience and lessons learned the hard way, Jay Jarboe guides us to pray into this tension on behalf of missionaries around the world.
Read MoreFive minutes online is enough to threaten to overwhelm our hearts - the developing crisis in Afghanistan targeting our sisters and brothers in Christ…an earthquake in Haiti followed up by a tropical storm…the rampant Delta variant. Hear this truth, friends - we are not overcome nor are we powerless because the God we serve is still King! In this timely email, Dan Bouchelle speaks to us about how to pray into a crisis as well as how to pray for our family in Christ serving through one. Keep reading to the end for special requests from a friend of MRN who serves on the ground near to the crisis in Afghanistan.
Read MoreIn this month’s call to prayer, MRN’s own Mark Hooper speaks to us about Confessional Prayers. His is a life lived out of a deep relationship with the Father, often engaging in the practice of confession. You will be blessed by letting Mark lead you to take a closer look at praying confessional prayers.
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This month, we’re leaning into how to pray into the tension between leading and following.
This month we call you to Declarative Prayer, something many of us might be either unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. This mode of prayer simply means that once we know God’s heart on an issue, we boldly pray that it will be so, and then walk in faith that it is already so – even if the answer is not yet visible.[1] It involves knowing the heart of God, the character of God, and the word of God so intimately that we are able to speak with authority about how things ought to be even when they do not look likely.
Read MoreWhen I listened to the news of another attack by the militant group al Shaba’ab in Kenya, I felt myself stiffening. I knew of missionaries who lived in the region. They decided to stay alongside the local church community and support them through the crisis. I wondered how close the fighting was to their families. And, I admit, I wished they would just flee the area for their safety.
Read More“I wish there was more that I could do for your ministry, but I am on a limited budget.” I remember hearing this a lot as a missionary when I would share the story of what God was doing in his kingdom. Often it was from a sweet widow or a retired couple who wanted to give more financial assistance to our ministry. I would usually respond by saying, “You actually can do something more important for the mission than providing funds.” Then I would share with them Paul’s words to the Roman church, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” (Romans 15:30).
Read MoreI’m still a little humored, bewildered, and astonished by this conversation I had with a friend of mine who had been part of our church community. And, while I still find myself shaking my head at this interaction, there is a legitimate, ongoing tension between being Holy Spirit led and engaging in human planning, a tension that many church and mission leaders face daily.
Read MoreIn the past, we’ve used these blogs to inform you of what to pray for these three works that we believe God has called us to be a part of initiating. This year, though, we’re changing things up! We’ll spend six of the next twelve months talking about the how of praying for these Initiatives and the others talking about the why.
I’m tired of Zoom. I’m tired of online church. I’m tired of experiencing part of people (visual and auditory). I need to feel people. I need to smell them. I need the energy that radiates in a room filled with people in my Christian family. I need life-sized, in-person presence. Don’t you?
Read MoreIn the world of unreached people, MRN is concerned with those who have no access to the Gospel and worship idols: gods made with human hands and ideas. However, within most of these non-Christian theologies, there are often glimpses of truth sprinkled through their stories and festivals. This is especially true among our Hindu friends.
Read MoreNovember 1 is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. In eleven days, believers will devote themselves to praying for their brothers and sisters who live in places where there are life-threatening consequences to choosing Jesus.
We are calling you to do the same – not just on that day, but even today!
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