A Short Guide to Praying for Missions and Missionaries
from Biblical Missions: Principles, Priorities, and Practices (Thomas Nelson, 2025)
Evangelism and missions are powerless apart from God’s own working, which is why prayer is the starting point of the Great Commission and not an afterthought to it. As Hudson Taylor observed, “You can work without praying, but you cannot pray in earnest without working.” Whether a worker is planting a church, reaching a global city, or confronting injustice, fervent prayer and the proclamation of the Word must go before and sustain everything else. Only God can open blind eyes and build His church.
- Seven Ways to Pray for Missionaries — the “7 P’s”
Drawn from Paul’s own prayer requests (by John Glass, ch. 27).
Missionaries are not “autonomous ministry machines” — they are ordinary believers who need our intercession.
- Partners — that others would labor alongside them in the work.
- Possibilities — that God would open doors for the Word to spread rapidly.
- Power — boldness to open their mouths and speak the gospel without shame.
- Protection — rescue from evil men and safety in the spiritual warfare on the field.
- Provision — that their material and financial needs would be met.
- Purity — a guarded conscience amid isolation and pagan pressures.
- Pauses — rest and refreshment with their families, so they do not burn out.
- Praying for the Nations — Psalm 67
Psalm 67 models three priorities for global prayer (Chris Burnett, Insert 20.1).
- For the nations’ salvation — that God’s saving way would be known on all the earth.
- For the nations’ praise — that all peoples would rejoice in God and praise Him continually.
- For our resources in the harvest — that God would use our time, money, and talents to bless the world.
- Gospel-Centered Prayer — Colossians 4:2–6
Paul names four opportunities that gospel-centered prayer affords (Mark Tatlock, ch. 26).
- Delighting in Christ — watchful, thankful prayer for the grace of redemption.
- Declaring Christ — asking for open doors to speak the mystery of Christ clearly.
- Demonstrating Christ — wisdom to walk blamelessly toward outsiders.
- Defending Christ — speech “seasoned with salt” that answers critics graciously and truthfully.
- Your action item this week:
Choose one missionary family from the Missionary Prayer Booklet (available at the Welcome Center) and pray through the 7 P’s for them this week. Then consider writing them to let them know how you prayed for them.
Prayer is treated across the Biblical Missions textbook (available through the Biblical Missions Equipping Class).
For further study, read these selections:
- Insert 20.1 — “Psalm 67: Pray to Be a Blessing to the World” (Chris Burnett)
- Ch. 26 — “Gospel-Centered Prayer: Paul’s Priorities in Colossians 4:2–6” (Mark Tatlock)
- Ch. 27 — “Seven Ways to Pray for Missionaries” (John Glass)
- Ch. 19 — “Igniting Passion for Missions in the Local Church,” section “Pray for Missions” (Rodney Andersen)
- Ch. 30 — “Holding the Rope: 3 John for Missions Donors,” section “Pray for Missions” (Eric Weathers)
- Insert 31.3 — “Women Caring for Missionary Women and Families” / “Prayer and Care for Missionary Families” (Lauren Brown)
- Ch. 33 — “Church Planting by the Book,” on “Fervent Prayer” (Stephen Lonetti)
- Ch. 56 — “Reaching the Global City,” on “Prayer” (John Freiberg)
- Ch. 58 — “Pursuing Justice,” section “The Priority of Local Church Proclamation and Prayer” (George A. Crawford)
- Ch. 69 — “Partnership Strategies in Africa with Local Leaders and Rural Communities,” on “Praying for Leaders” (Thomas Hodzi)
Find out more at https://cbm.tmai.org/
The Center for Biblical Missions Team
at The Master’s Academy International