Praying for the fulfillment of the Great Commission
Praying for the fulfillment of the Great Commission
1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” NIV Bible
Extra Reading: 1 Peter 3:8-22
Christians should join together in praying for the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)-not only in their area, but to the “end of the earth.” Prayer was the starting point of the spread of the Gospel in Acts. Biblical prayer should include intercession for the work of the Lord around the world. Prayer is the key to seeing God work as powerfully today as He did in the book of Acts. Every church leader who desires to be effective must be committed to prayer. Prayer is a source of both power and direction from the Lord. Nothing of lasting spiritual value will be accomplished without it. However, it is possible to pray often and fervently, but not pray for the important things. While it is certainly true that God wants us to pray for our own needs, that by itself is not enough. He also expects us to pray for the needs of others, and for the fulfillment of His plan to reach all nations-that is, the Great Commission.
God’s heart desires for all to hear the Good News of the Gospel. Jesus Christ left heaven in order to provide salvation through His shed blood, and the apostles travelled throughout the known world of their day to announce that fact. Many believers today are content to care for their own needs or the needs of those who are close to them and ignore the needs of the world. In some ways, the early church struggled with the same problem. The first believers were all ethnic Jews, and they had a difficult time deciding to take the Gospel to the other nations. What finally convinced them? In a word, prayer. There are very significant occasions in Acts where prayer provided the power or motivation to witness, or both. The final command of Jesus before His resurrection was for the disciples to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:12-14). They spent their time together “constantly in prayer” in an upper room. The result of this extended prayer meeting was the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the powerful preaching of Peter, and the conversion of 3000 people in one day! It took the early church a long time to understand their responsibility to reach all nations. This is one biblical example that we should not repeat.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach us to pray for the salvation of all nations. In your name, we pray, Amen!
Rev. Samuel N. Modise 
