Amissionary recently visited the Bible study I was attending. She described what it had been like to pack up her household, part with friends and move to a distant country. When she and her family arrived, they were greeted with a flourishing drug trade and hazardous roadways. The language barrier made them feel very lonely. They got four different stomach viruses. And her oldest daughter narrowly escaped death after falling through a railing on an unsafe stairwell. They needed prayer.

The apostle Paul experienced danger and hardship as a missionary. He was imprisoned, shipwrecked and beaten. It’s no surprise that his letters contained pleas for prayer. He asked the believers in Thessalonica to pray for success in spreading the gospel—that God’s Word would “run swiftly and be glorified” (2 Thess. 3:1) and that God would deliver him from “unreasonable and wicked men” (v.2). Paul knew he would need to “open [his] mouth boldly” and declare the gospel (Eph. 6:19), which was yet another prayer request.

Do you know people who need God’s help as they spread the good news of Christ? Remember Paul’s appeal, “Brethren, pray for us” (2 Thess. 3:1), and bring them before the throne of our powerful God.

Author

Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Topics

Our Daily Bread