By Sarah McCombie
Local Missions: Why is praying for your topic (local missions) important?
In Matthew 28 after Jesus was crucified on the cross and raised to life, he appeared to eleven of the disciples, commissioning them to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations..” (Matthew 28:19 CSB). In this same chapter, he promises that he will send the Holy Spirit to be present with them once he ascends back to the Father, stating, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v 20). What a reassuring promise! Jesus led his life with a very clear purpose: to lead others to salvation. If we are to follow his lead, how then must prayer be made integral to that purpose?
We should be engaging with the local community and sharing the Gospel in a tangible and personal way. But living out the great commission and keeping prayer at the center are two vital, challenging tasks. A large part of my life outside of work is with a youth ministry called Young Life. We meet kids on their turf, build relationships, and introduce them to Jesus Christ. That often looks like showing up at football games on a Friday night or going to a band concert. We actually go out of our way to spend time with students who may never walk through the doors of a church. Seeking after the lost is tough, humbling, and often heartbreaking. Watching adolescents pour their lives into broken cisterns should cause us to grieve.
However, mission and prayer is the process by which Jesus shapes his disciples. We have no choice but to pray to God for help, guidance, hope. He is the only one powerful enough to break down walls and transform hearts. Both our own, and the individuals whom we desire to meet Jesus. Prayer must lead and follow action because we know Christ himself has gone before us and will carry on after us.
I see the desperate need every day as a child welfare professional. We live in a very broken, corrupt world, and without Jesus, there is no hope for change. We must pray for soft hearts and ears to listen to God speak through our actions and words; prayer for God-ordained conversations; prayer for new leaders who are willing to step up and share the task of discipleship towards difficult and sometimes hard to love teenagers; and financial support to make the mission possible. Without prayer, we are just kind people who help others “get their act together.” But Christ did not die for us to just be “good people”. He died that we might be saved and share eternity with Him in heaven.
What an incredible story of sacrifice and love! We should be excited to serve in the local mission because Christ first loved us. The mission is possible because of the work that Christ has done in my own life; allowing me to lead others and step outside of my comfort zone for the sake of desiring lives to be changed. With prayer, we are powered by the Holy Spirit, as promised in Matthew 28 and again in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Not everyone is called to serve on the ground as a Young Life leader. But as Christians, we are all called to serve God as members of one body with different gifts (1 Corinthians 12). We can support this mission as a united church body through prayer.
