Resolution #2 – I will pray for missionaries by name at least one day per week.

This is a series about 10 resolutions that you can make to promote Missions in 2022. The idea was sparked by an Instagram post that Bevin Ginder of GlobalCAST Resources posted on his site. Since many resolutions are abandoned by the end of January, I will post a new resolution each week. That way, you will have inspiration throughout the year.

The second resolution is: I will pray for missionaries by name at least one day per week.

First, you will have to find a missionary to pray for. Depending on your situation, this may be easy or difficult, but it can be done. Ask your church for a list of missionaries they support. There may be a missions bulletin board where missionary letters are posted. You can get names from there. Your church missions pastor or secretary will know who they support, and can give you names and information.

If your church doesn’t support specific missionaries, you can ask your denomination for a list of their missionaries. You will probably receive a book or package with names and their areas of work.

If you attend an interdenominational church that doesn’t have a missions department, you can ask a mission organization you are familiar with for a list of their missionaries. They will be glad for your prayer support. However, for security reasons, many organizations will not list the countries their missionaries serve in.

Once you have a list of names, you can narrow your focus to those serving in a country you are interested in (Bangladesh, Middle East, North Africa, Latin America), or an area of ministry you are interested in (deaf ministry, frontier evangelism, human trafficking).

Contact those missionaries you feel the Lord is calling you to support in prayer. Sometimes they have a phone number. They may have a website, or an email or snail mail newsletter. Reading these sources of information will reveal their prayer needs. Contacting them through these channels will show that you are serious about their prayer support, and will encourage them on the field. Knowing that someone back home is actively praying for them is a great morale booster.

Ask them for current prayer needs. Sometimes urgent things come up, and there is no time for a newsletter. Ask the Spirit to reveal any prayer needs of your missionary. There are many stories of pray-ers that were prompted by the Spirit to pray for a certain thing, only to find out after the fact that their prayers were the turning point in a situation.

Also, spread the word to your church and friends about the needs. You can encourage others to pray for the missionary. There may be an opportunity to move beyond praying into giving materials or resources for a specific project. This could develop into a church-wide effort.

If the missionary comes to your church on furlough, be a special friend to them. Introduce yourself personally, so they can put a face to the intercessor they only know through other contacts. Help them out as much as you can; they may be on a tight schedule and may need errands run or small supplies to be bought and packaged up for shipment back to their field. If they have children with them, introduce them to other children their age in your church.

You never know where this one small step can lead. Praying for one missionary may lead you or a group of church members to pray for others. It may awaken a missionary zeal in your church. It could blossom into one or more people hearing a call from God and learning of their part in fulfilling the Great Commission.