Praying for the Nations....

One of the challenges that we read about in the book Radical was to pray for the Nations...nations that didn't know Christ, unreached people, countries where being a Christian or having a Bible was dangerous....This was a strange concept to me...I mean as a Christian I know to pray about "non Christians" and for needy, hungry, oppressed people but to really pray for people and large groups of people was so foreign to me....and the big question for me was this....Do I really care?  I know that sounds terrible...why wouldn't I care about the countries that don't know about Jesus?  But it seems so difficult, just too big for me to grasp...but guess what..God cares, God knows their needs, and it isn't too big for God!  Here is a concept...no really a biblical truth that I realized...those VERY LARGE groups of unreached people need Jesus just like I do.  We have all sinned!  There is NO other way to the cross except through Jesus.  Even though they have never heard the word Jesus....they still need Him in order to go to Heaven....they still need to be rescued!  And the thought that just because they haven't heard the word of God or seen a Bible or heard about Jesus is Not going to get them into Heaven.  The Bible says that everyone Has Knowledge of God...Romans 1:18 and that all People Reject God, All People are Guilty before God, All people are condemned for rejecting God, and God has made a way of Salvation for the Lost!  So whether in America, Europe, Asia, or Africa....this stands true!  It doesn't matter where on this planet we live....we all need Jesus to Rescue us from our sin...so that got me thinking...we have a big responsibility..those of us that know Jesus!  Praying for other Nations is just the beginning!  Christ literally commands the church (that's us) to make the Gospel known to all peoples...!!!!!!  In Revelation it is written that one day every nation, people, tribe and language will be represented around the throne of Christ!  How cool is that!  Meaning that someone will share the Gospel with the most unreached tribe or unreached group of people and one person will believe!  God's plan was to use the Church!  There is a great commission here, a great plan, and a big job...

Honestly, as I sit in the pew at church some Wednesday nights at "prayer meeting" I get frustrated...they list in our church's prayer guide missionaries to pray for, specific countries sometimes, a nation, or a missionary team, etc.  I feel overwhelmed by it and wonder if my little bitty prayers would really work....

So I guess all this is to say, God is so working on me in this area...I have been praying for big Faith and this big Faith can be in many different areas...but one thing has come out of this...I have found and encountered a very BIG GOD that knows all this, understands all things, and is bigger than my little bitty prayers, worries, concerns, and frustrations.  He has laid on my heart a burden to pray for these nations...he has laid on my heart the need to somehow make the Gospel known.  To think that somewhere far from here people get together in small dark rooms to read ONE BIBLE together and hear just ONE VERSE is amazing and I'm saddened that we take this for granted...I mean we must have 10-15 Bibles in our home, there is no fear of reading them or praying or going to church....

As a family we are praying "around the world"...we are using the Operation World website.  This is just a guide to help people pray for the different countries, nations, and people groups.  Each day they send out a New Nation to pray for.  It has been humbling to say the least.  Last week we prayed for the people of Afghanistan, Austria, and Bosnia...the guide gives you updated info on the countries and people, their population, their biggest prayer need, prayers answered, etc.  I first had to really pray for a heart that cared.....I mean I have never really prayed for the people in Afghanistan like this...it was a big stretch and as I said very humbling...

We also have a Mission time in school everyday.  We are reading a book called Hero Tales.  It has stories of the lives of different men and women of faith.  This includes people like Harriet Tubman, Dwight Moody, Martin Luther, John Wesley, etc.  We use the book for reading out loud and copy work but the stories are so encouraging.  Again, they are amazing men and women of faith that did amazing things to further the Kingdom and help those in need...but they are just like you and me...they didn't get any special instructions from God, just the same instruction book that you and I have been gifted with...

As I dropped my big girl off at church today, I noticed on one of the picnic tables a Bible...probably left by one of our young people, it was tattered and looked like it had been rained on..I couldn't help but think about how some nations have NO BIBLE in their language, how some people have to hide to be able to even read the Bible, how some people have been killed trying to share the Bible.......my heart has been changed.  I really do care now...and will continue to pray for now!