Prayer for Our Existing Missionaries

Day Ten

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
—Psalm 121:1-8

The missionary call is one of sacrifice, self-denial, and service. Often it requires an extra portion of humility, as missionaries daily navigate language barriers, cultural differences, and other obstacles just to complete daily tasks that we take for granted. Although missionary life can be challenging, our missionaries take up this challenge because they have discovered that Jesus is worth it all. Our missionaries have crossed cultures to share the good news of the gospel, with the hopes of making disciples that multiply and make more disciples in areas where there is little to no gospel access.

The missionary William Carey famously stated before journeying to India, “I will go down into the pit, if you will hold the rope.” Carey knew that he would need support from his senders, as he would face many difficulties—known and unknown. As the sending church, we have a critical role to hold the rope for those that we send. A great portion of this rope-holding comes through standing in the gap through prayer.

Lord, we lift up our missionaries to you. We pray that they would lift their eyes to you as their helper and their keeper. God, will you remind them that you do not slumber or sleep, that you will keep their going out and their coming in, and that their lives are in your hands. Let this truth give them comfort, courage, and peace. God, move in mighty ways among those you have sent from Providence. We pray that you would use each of our missionaries as vessels for the good news in some of the darkest places in the world. Protect them and provide for them. Help us, as their sending church, to faithfully hold the rope for them through intercessory prayer. Amen.

As you go through your day:
1. Pray by name for the missionaries that you know.
2. Consider building in a weekly or daily rhythm of praying for our missionaries. You can find the name of the partner we are praying for each week at https://www.providencefrisco.com/this-weekend/
3. Join us on Sundays at 8:00 pm or Tuesdays at 7:00 am as we pray for and with our missionaries through Zoom on the Providence Missional Prayer Call.