Day 5

Worthy of the Lord

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”  

Philippians 2:9-11 

Worthy of the Lord

The personal life and character of a missionary is as important as their gifting and their formal ministry. This is also true of the churches where they serve. It’s the reason Paul’s prayers are filled with requests for our growth in godliness and righteousness.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5

The foundation of this life and character is our dependence on Jesus. Our prayers for missionaries are a vital part of this spiritual battle to remain in him and so bear much fruit (2 Corinthians 1:8-11; Philippians1:19; Colossians 4:12; Romans 15:30-33).

How can we pray for the spiritual lives of our missionaries?

• Use the Bible’s challenges to godliness to inform your prayers: Fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:16-26); Spiritual Battle (Ephesians 6-10-20); Growth in Godliness (Colossians 3:1-17); servant ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12); Godly witness (1 Peter 3:8-17).
• Pray for the family life of missionaries (Ephesians 5:21-6:4) and for their children’s growth in the Lord and resilience for living in another culture.
• Pray for friendships with local Christians, who can be an encouragement to the missionaries and their children.
• Pray for the ‘pastoral friends’ of each missionary. CMS requires each missionary to have a pastoral friend in Australia, who will be regularly asking them how they are going spiritual, emotionally and relationally.

Today’s prayers and petitions:

Today in the CMS Prayer Diary, we are praying for our missionaries in Vanuatu, PNG & Solomon Islands. PNG is a country of vast ethnic diversity, home to over 1,000 people groups.

The majority of Papua New Guineans identify as Christians, but specific gospel knowledge is often vague and subject to the influence of prosperity gospel doctrines.

CMS in Vanuatu, CMS missionaries work amongst university students in partnership with the university group Gud Nius Yunivesiti Felosip (GNYF), and missionaries help train local church leaders in understanding the Bible.

In the Solomon Islands, CMS partners with Bishop Patteson Theological College (BPTC), helping students to deepen their understanding of God through the Bible so that they can teach its message to others.

• We pray for fruit of the spirit, protection against spiritual battles, growth in Godliness and servant hearted ministry for all missionaries serving in Vanuatu, PNG & Solomon Islands.
• Ask God for more people to serve in student ministry and other areas to teach, support and encourage Christians in PNG.
• Ask God to inspire people who have / or want to get post graduate qualifications to consider becoming a long-term missionary in theological education.
• We pray for our CMS QNNSW missionaries on location Bill & Linda Colyer (Port Vila, Vanuatu) and David Pettett (Kohimarama, Solomon Islands)
• We also thank God for the 10+ year service of Keith & Marion Birchley in PNG. We pray that God will guide their future plans.

Ask God to raise up workers for the harvest in Vanuatu, PNG & Solomon Islands

• We pray God provides new missionaries with a heart worthy for the Lord for Vanuatu, PNG & Solomon Islands to serve with CMS.
• We also pray for the Christians in Vanuatu, PNG & Solomon Islands to deepen their understanding of God through the Bible so that they can teach its message to others.