8 Reasons to Pray for the Nations

Many times, I hear pastors and leaders who admit to struggling with why and how to intercede for the world. It seems like such a big task. Where do we start? And will our prayers truly make a difference?

In the next two entries, I will share an article written by Mark Silvers at crossworld.org, an organization that is doing a great job at helping churches fulfill the Great Commission. Today we will see various reasons why Mark says we should pray, and in a few days, we’ll find out how to pray for the nations.

Missionary Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952) famously said, “The history of missions is the history of answered prayer.”

If that’s true, then the future of missions depends on our prayers today. What an opportunity we have! Do we pray with the fervor and urgency we should?

8 Reasons to Pray for the Nations

1. God cares about the nations. Scripture from Genesis to Revelation reveals God’s heart for the nations, and we can express our union with God in that concern through prayer.
2. Prayer expands our view of God and the world. Prayer for the nations instills in us a heart of humility, a love of other cultures, and an admiration of the God who made them all.
3. Jesus commanded it, and we should obey. The key to unreached peoples believing in Christ is sending missionaries (Romans 10:13-15), and the key to sending missionaries is prayer! “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2, ESV).
4. We get to join God’s global work. When we pray for the nations, we get to see God act and we have the joy of knowing we played a small part.
5. We need God’s help to reach the nations. Seeking to fulfill the Great Commission that Christ gave to go and make disciples of all nations is foolishness without asking God to give us the nations for his glory.
6. Missionaries need prayer partners. Every day they face spiritual warfare, cultural confusion, sin in themselves and their disciples, and the strongholds of the enemy – and there are no victories without prayer.
7. The stakes are high for the least-reached. Working to reach the least-reached isn’t a game – it’s an all-out spiritual war, and time is of the essence.
8. Someone prayed for you. More than likely, someone (or perhaps many people) prayed for your salvation. Now it’s your turn to pay it forward. Who will you pray into the kingdom?

Mark Silvers served with Crossworld in the Philippines for 10 years and joined the Recruitment team in 2009. Mark’s driving passion is to reach the 3.4 billion people in the world today with no access to the gospel.