How to Pray for Missionaries

Perhaps too often, our prayer supporters only see one side of being a missionary, that we are “called to go.” They can forget about the other side: the harsh realities of being far away from family and friends, the children attending school away from their parents, and the years of ministry before a breakthrough. Not to mention the missionaries who burn out emotionally and spiritually. I’ve heard that, each year, more than 12,000 missionaries return from the field prematurely, permanently, and for preventable reasons. But prayer can make a difference.

As missionaries, we know the power of prayer. Here are some ways to help our supporters pray.

Suggestions for helping supporters pray

• Mention specific needs to encourage specific prayer for each missionary family and individual family members.
• Suggest supporting churches select a “missionary of the month” or “missionary of the week” and pray for them in each church service, at children’s church, prayer meetings, Sunday school, etc.
• Suggest that your specific needs could be mentioned in the church bulletin/newsletter/email. Remind them that personal or sensitive issues must be handled confidentially and thus not be shared with the church at large without your permission.
• Encourage individuals and families to pray at home for you.
• Identify with your supporters. Remind them that missionaries become lonely, feel hurt, and get discouraged. Suggest that when they are lonely or feel hurt, they can pray for missionaries who feel the same way at times.
• Suggest that when supporters are encouraged, they could rejoice in your successes.
• Encourage them to communicate with you. Suggest you’d be encouraged if they tell you they are praying for you.
• Let them know about your special days: birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc.

Get specific

Share these things with your supporters:

• Spiritual: protection, personal relationship with the Lord
• Emotional: frustrations, low points, burnout, etc.
• Mental: adaptation to culture and language, perseverance to learn the language
• Physical: health, protection
• Role: for God’s assurance that we are doing what He has called us to, whatever that may be
• Children: that they will have good friends in the host culture, that they adapt to schools or home schooling; pray against loneliness, and that they will feel part of their parents’ calling
• Ministry: growth, breakthrough, perseverance (even though fruit might not be seen)
• Practical: vehicle, finances, visa/work permits
• Relational: good relationships with fellow missionaries (we are often isolated or under a lot of pressure, therefore pray that conflicts and differences would be handled well)
• Cultural: information about Japan; prayer for the government, least reached people groups, and cultural challenges

Most of all, emphasize that supporters could be a friend to you. Sometimes all we need is an ear to listen to our hearts and a touch on our shoulder, assuring us that we are prayed for and cared about.