I was thrilled to receive so many responses to my July article in Together In Prayer from our constituents, many of whom responded to my question, “Why does WMPL exist?” Not surprisingly, the most common responses to why WMPL exists included a form of the word “pray.” Overwhelmingly apparent in the responses were these three elements: (1) the method (prayer, praying, pray, implore God); (2) the action (go, send, reach, engage, disciple); and (3) the recipient (the unreached, the nations, those with little access, those who have not heard, the lost).
If all these elements align with the Lord’s calling on our organization and we respond obediently to the Spirit’s leading, we can have faith for a fruitful outcome from our work. What is the outcome we are looking for? That “God is glorified and all people participate in His kingdom.” (WMPL’s overall Ends policy)
More specifically, God desires “all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), that the lost will be found (Luke 15:6), the broken will be transformed into his likeness (Romans 12:2), the blind will see, the lame will walk (Matthew 11:5) and “that all might have abundant life” (John 10:10b). Might a possible new name for WMPL, which we are discussing now, reflect more of the outcome we have wanted to see from our earliest days as a mission than does our current name? I invite you to continue praying throughout the rest of this process to decide our name.
Speaking of prayer, I’d like to segue into reflecting on WMPL’s emphasis on prayer as our working method. As WMPL workers, it is our calling to pray. Our WMPL website features numerous inspirational quotes about prayer and mission, including one from Martin Luther: “As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”
For many years, my “go-to” devotional guide was My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. One of his daily devotions is titled “Greater Works,” which highlights the importance of prayer. He writes, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.” He adds that prayer is the battle, and it doesn’t matter where we find ourselves, for however “God engineers circumstances,” it is our duty to pray. He writes that we need to “labor along the line of God’s direction,” and urges us to pray Luke 10:2. This is WMPL’s theme verse: “Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.”
I ask all our membership to please pray to the God who is faithful and true to his promises, fervently call on him to open the floodgates of people boldly stepping out of their comfort zones and going into all the world. There is a ripening of the harvest as much of the world loses hope in governments and human solutions that are thought to bring peace and wholeness, but do not.
A life of prayer reflects our dependence on God. The less we pray, the more it reflects a dependence on ourselves, rather than listening, receiving, and responding to God. Is God calling you to spend more time with him in prayer that his will be done on earth, through you, as it is done in heaven?
Ole Hallesby (1879-1961), theologian, author and educator, wrote,
The work of praying is prerequisite to all other work in the kingdom of God, for the simple reason that it is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness, the powers which can turn water into wine and remove mountains in our own life and in the lives of others, the powers which can awaken those who sleep in sin and raise up the dead, the powers which can capture strongholds and make the impossible possible.”
May our hearts be transformed as we become increasingly more in tune and in step with the Holy Spirit, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the missional purpose of God our Father, by grace and through prayer and obedience to his Word.