The time is drawing near for our Africa Crew to leave. Let us bless our missionaries with our heart felt prayers as the final details for their trip come together. May our God of grace fill our Crew's hearts with peace and joy during this final week in Mesquite.
Africa Prayer Calendar: Week 3
Excerpts are taken
from Neal Pirolo’s book “Serving As Senders Today.”
“…in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding.”
Colossians
1:9
It is
noteworthy that throughout Scripture these two qualities of the Christian life
are always twins – one with the other. Wisdom can be defined as “the ability to
see things from God’s perspective” and understanding as “the ability to know
how to make that Godly perspective work out in day-to-day living.”
One
missionary statesman wisely said, “The only ones who know everything about
missions are those who have been on the field less than six months!” Bombarded
with cultural distinctives, worlds apart from his own culture, and quite
possibly faced with methods that have become bogged down in tradition, your
worker continually needs to see things from God’s perspective – things
pertaining to family life, ministry, relationship with nationals, economy for
time and energy, finances, personal devotions, relationships with ministers on
his team and those of other groups.
It is not
for nothing that Solomon urges: “Get wisdom, and with all your getting, get
understanding” (Proverbs 4:7)!
As your
prayers “bind the strong man” (Matthew 12:29) so your worker can have a clear
vision from God’s vantage point of eternal values – as your prayers elevate
your missionary to realize he is “seated with Christ in heavenly places”
(Ephesians 2:6), he must now understand how to make all of that happen in the
daily affairs of his life.
Days – even
weeks - of extended travel away from home wreak havoc with scheduled family
time. Dare we use God’s money to take a vacation? How do I tell the nationals
that we aren’t going to use US dollars to build their building - that it is
better for the local congregation to trust God for the provision? How do I not
violate my doctrinal distinctives, yet develop a working relationship with
others in the Body of Christ? These and a thousand questions bombard your
worker’s life and demand an understanding heart (1 Kings 3:9). To see things
from God’s perspective is one thing (wisdom); to know how to make them work out
in your missionary’s everyday life is another (understanding).
You can see
how this prayer for wisdom and understanding could consume hours of
intercession as you wage war against the enemy, and help your missionary live
in the victory Christ won for him on Calvary.
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