Day 6

Open doors and open hearts

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

Colossians 4:2-6

Open doors and open hearts

We send missionaries to locations where speaking the gospel publicly is hard. The local language will always be their ‘second’ language, and understanding the culture takes a lifetime.

Seeing the ‘open doors’ for the gospel, and having the language to speak the gospel deeply and clearly into people’s lives does not come naturally. Yet, missionaries long for these opportunities and crave our prayers for the Lord to open them.

In secure locations, missionaries need great wisdom in knowing when they can speak about their faith, and courage to speak when they can.

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

• Ask the Lord to lead the missionaries to those whose hearts he is opening to him.
• As you read missionaries’ prayer updates, add the names of those they talk about to your prayer lists. Commit yourself long-term to them, just as the missionaries have!
• Ask the Lord to give the missionaries the right words to say when he opens a door of opportunity to them. Let them know you are praying this for them – it will be a real encouragement for them to persevere.

Today’s prayers and petitions:

Today in the CMS Prayer Diary, we are praying for our Missionaries in the Middle East, Eurasia and Central Asia.

The Middle East continues to be a centre of religious and political tension. Millions are displaced or living as refugees due to war and dispossession. Many affected have never heard the good news of Jesus and commitment to Islam remains a deeply rooted part of cultural and personal identity.

Missionary work in Eurasia faces the challenge of scrutiny over gospel activity. There are opportunities for CMS workers to use professional skills (such as language teaching) to become involved in communities and churches.

To be Central Asian is, effectively, to be Muslim. There are few Christians here, so it is hard for those in the region to have access to the Bibles and Bible teaching. CMS works largely through missionaries willing to stay and build relationships in local communities. There are many opportunities for Christians with specific professional skills to live and work in Central Asia and to share the good news of Jesus at a personal level.

• We pray for continued doors and hearts to be opened to our missionaries in the Middle East, Eurasia and Central Asia.
• We pray for our secure missionaries in these locations to have wisdom in knowing when they can speak about their faith, and courage to speak when they can.
• We pray for more opportunities to bring believers together for fellowship, and offer these friends support in sharing the gospel with others.
• Thank God for CMS missionaries willing to bring the gospel to unreached people groups, and ask that God will raise up more of them—along with local believers.
• We pray for our CMS QNNSW missionaries in the Middle East, Eurasia and Central Asia. Please refer to CMS’ Prayer Diary and Monthly Prayer points to pray specifically for these missionaries.

Ask God to raise up workers for the harvest in the Middle East, Eurasia and Central Asia

• We pray God provides many opportunities for Christians with specific professional skills to live and work in the Middle East, Eurasia and Central Asia, to share the good news of Jesus at a personal level.
• Pray also for believers under threat because of their commitment to Christ, that they will stand firm and be ready to explain their hope in Jesus.