“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 (KJV)
According to a report by Christianity Today, a Christian magazine outfit, more than 5,600 Christians were killed for their faith between October 2021 and September 2022. More than 2,100 churches were attacked or closed. More than 124,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith, and almost 15,000 became refugees.
In many countries, Christians are killed, abducted, sexually assaulted, harassed, forcibly married, or physically or mentally abused. Many homes and businesses are attacked for faith-based reasons.
The above report shows the work of the devil through men to frustrate the prosperity of the Gospel in the nations of the earth and in the hearts of men. In our opening text, Paul admonishes the church in Thessalonica to pray for ministers of the Gospel for their deliverance from evil men. As believers, we must never have a laid-back attitude towards the persecution of other believers around us or far away from us.
Our emotions, passion and sympathy must be well invested in praying for missionaries who have left the comfort of their homes and families to preach the Gospel in remote places where the it has not been heard and in volatile nations hostile to its message.
Moreover, the Bible is replete with instructions to pray for missionaries and for the spread of the Gospel through their ministries. In Romans 15:30-31, Paul urges believers to pray for ministers of the Gospel and for the prosperity of the Gospel through them, as well as their deliverance from unbelieving men. In Ephesians 6:18-20 and Colossians 4:2-4, Paul himself had been arrested for the cause of the Gospel and requested the church to pray for boldness and utterance in the face of persecution.
It is therefore your responsibility to pray for men and women who have given up the world’s pleasure for the cause of the Gospel. When we pray for them, we make God’s power available to them for their deliverance and safety. This was exactly what happened when the church prayed for Peter in Acts 12:5-12.
More so, we make boldness available for them and they are supernaturally encouraged to not give up on the cause of Christ. We also pray against the resistance towards the Gospel in those cities and we establish the predominance of the Gospel there.
Dear believer, the Lord counts on you to make intercessions for missionaries today and always, as there are lives at stake. Do well to intentionally make out time to pray for them and do so passionately.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for the missionaries who bring the gospel to every nation in the world. We pray you deliver them from the clutches of wicked and unreasonable men. We pray that they are strengthened to uproot false ideologies and plant Christ’s truths in the hearts of men. We pray for comfort against discouragement, disappointment, fear, financial hardship, and doubt.
Bible Reading Plan: Ezekiel 13-15