In fact, Kris Sieliccy of Poland, serving in several ITMI projects including Bread of Life and a church plant in Poznan’s “New City” area, recounts another story of effective prayer. This one can truly be said to turn Kris’ world around. Way back when he was still a nonbeliever, his saved brother began asking his believing friends to pray for Kris’ salvation. Kris was living in Italy at the time, but that was not a problem for God. He provided Kris with an opportunity to read the New Testament. Kris realized this was a message from God and submitted his life to Jesus. Later, in Poland, he saw his name on a prayer list in his brother’s church and knew he’d been presented with that New Testament because of their prayers for him.

When ITMI missionaries, Tucker and Meredith Boone were about to leave for the mission field in Poland, they were overwhelmed and stressed. Meredith says, “We were arguing about the little and the big things because of the stress.” Refusing to leave the situation as it was, they asked their church family to lift up their marriage and kids during this hairy time. Thanks to the prayer support of this faithful group of believers, Meredith recalls, “The transformation was AMAZING. God’s power and peace was so evident as we relaxed and trusted Him for everything we needed.”

Prayer is a great privilege granted to believers by the grace of the cross. By battling on your knees for missions, you also can become their partner in spreading the Gospel worldwide. But even though prayer is a savory, sweet gift directly from God’s throne, it seems that Christians, at times, find it difficult to take time to pray.

Romans 8:26 identifies one common weakness that keeps us from praying. It says, “We do not know what we ought to pray for.” This can be a great hurdle to praying for missions, since to many of us, the mission field is a hazily unfamiliar topic. Though we can mentally register the great needs, we struggle to truly taste the urgency of the battle. Thankfully, Romans 8:26 continues, “but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”

A word from ITMI partners.

While we know our suggestions can never make a believer’s prayers more effective than the Spirit’s intercession, we would like to offer some practical insights on praying for missions and mission workers. ITMI partners regularly mention several things as areas in which they feel especially vulnerable, and these are spiritual health, effective ministry and personal safety. Their constant concern is also that the Lord provides co-workers for His harvest. This is where you come in. Specifically supporting them with your loving prayer is one of the most valuable ways you can partner with them.

Bruce Kaumba, of Lusaka Bible College in the impoverished, destitute and squalor township of Kanyama, Zambia expressed the importance of praying that workers maintain focus on ministry. “It is very tempting to give up because of the difficulties we encounter,” he shares. Meredith agrees, “It’s crazy sometimes in ministry and the enemy seeks to find us at our weakest point and render us ineffective-for a day, week or more, by discouraging us however he can.” Kris mentioned that it can be very reassuring when missionaries receive an e-mail or personal letter letting them know that someone is praying for them.

Along those same lines, prayers for effective service have tremendous value for our partners. “I think that it’s extremely important that missionaries are lifted up in prayer in this area,” Kelly said. Bruce adds that “Prayers for greater fruit as each missionary fulfills his or her God-given call” are greatly appreciated. When a missionary sees fruit of their labor, it assures them that God is at work through them and so urges them on.

Prayer for able co-workers was another thing suggested by our missionaries as a safeguard against losing heart and so growing fruitless in ministry, Kris felt that close Christian friends, who share a similar vision and heart for the work, is a great need. Kelly agreed, “In our case, we’d love prayer for God to raise up co-workers to come alongside us fulltime. There’s so much to be done.”

Advice from the field

We also asked our partners for some practical tips in weaving prayer into their daily life. All of them were careful to give credit to the Holy Spirit for helping them develop these habits. For the Smith family, they set aside time to pray for specific needs they see around them, such as for children suffering from the unending march of misery and death driven by HIV/AIDS in their neighborhood. Kris also builds spiritual discipline by devoting an hour to pray every morning. He and his wife, Megi, keep a notebook of prayer requests and their answers.

It seems that in addition to sanctifying a specific time period for prayer, it is vital for these workers to keep the conversation going throughout the day. Kris makes it a point to enter the throne room briefly before a meeting or solving a problem. Only then does he proceed, expecting the Lord to be with Him. Bruce also likes to pray as he is working. Meredith added, “Submitting to His authority at the start of the day makes a HUGE difference in how I see everything else that happens the rest of the day and fosters an ongoing conversation with Him through the day.”

Here are ten practical tips for making prayer for missions an all day affair.

1. When a country is mentioned in the evening news, use the next commercial break to pray for Christian workers there, by name if possible, and for the salvation of that country.

10. While paying bills, writing checks, or waiting for the clerk to return your credit/debit card to you, pray for financial support for missionaries and projects, as well as for the workers to use the Lord’s funds wisely.

May the Lord enrich your prayer life and bless you with the peace that surpasses understanding!

by Summer Kelley