Upon reading the title of this article, perhaps you’re thinking: “Pray for a change? What do you mean? I already pray.” I hope you do pray. Indeed, we expect that most of you who receive Together in Prayer are partners with us in praying for the coming of God’s Kingdom in and through the work of the World Mission Prayer League. This is why I want to encourage you to pray for a change.
Though our Lord Jesus and his message very thankfully are unchanging (Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 24:35), he is, in fact, very committed to changing things in the world, and in our lives. He knows the changes we most need.
Recently I read again the story of the lame man who had waited for years by the pool of Bethesda, hoping against hope for a healing miracle. “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (John 5:8,9). This man’s life was changed dramatically by Jesus! For the first time in 38 years, he walked! And from that encounter with Jesus he walked into a life – a new life – that was no doubt filled with countless other changes. Jesus, however, was committed to changes that went far beyond this one person. “The Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed’” (v.10). Seriously?! Did they really say that? Sadly, they did. Something needed to change!
The change in this sick man’s life, brought about by Jesus on the Sabbath, required that the Jews reconsider their own ways and traditions related to the Sabbath. With both his authority and his mercy Jesus confronted the spiritual inertia and law-bound traditions of his own people. Jesus came to save, but also to change things! In this, my friends, he remains the same. Still today he is committed to the changes he sees the world – and us – needing.
In coming months, I plan to focus on more stories of how God brought powerful, though sometimes difficult, changes into people’s lives. My hope is that the Holy Spirit will use these accounts and the truths they reveal to help us better and more biblically consider and embrace the changes that are happening, or are needed, in our own lives and communities, in the world, and in the Prayer League.
So… pray for a change. Or two. Or more. As we walk into the year 2020, allow me to suggest a few changes we are needing for the life and work of the World Mission Prayer League.
First and foremost, please pray for change in the places and peoples of the world where the Good News of Jesus has not yet been heard! Pray for more opportunities, more workers, and more lives saved through the gospel. Pray that the Lord would guide and provide for the role he wants WMPL to have in those changes.
Secondly, I hope you are (or were) able to join in our Day of Prayer and Fasting on January 6 to seek the Lord’s guidance for how he would have us pursue and instill commissioned living as a community. Please continue to pray with us in this regard.
Please also pray for a change in our home office staffing. In particular, we have an urgent need for
an individual with business and management skills. Ideally, this person would serve as the Administrative Director of WMPL. If you have thoughts of someone the Lord might have serve in this position or something similar, please let us know!
Pray for change in the allowance and benefit structure that provides for the needs of WMPL workers in North America and around the world. The need for some significant changes has been apparent for some time, and our Board of Directors recently established a task force to fully review our current policies and practices and make recommendations for the future. Pray that God’s Spirit will provide clear guidance for this complicated and important work.
Finally, pray for needed change in WMPL’s constitution. Our Board of Directors (which has replaced our previous “Home Council”) has recently completed our new governance policies, something for which we can be very thankful. These, however, now necessitate a rewriting of our constitution and by-laws. Obviously, we want to do that well, understanding and holding firmly to the Lord’s will for the future of our praying and sending community.
In coming months, I look forward to sharing still more stories of change from the Bible, and still more prayers for changes in our life and work together as the World Mission Prayer League. We will walk into this new year confident in the only One who does not change, trusting him for the gracious transformation needed in our world, and in us!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6,7 ESV