What’s the first thing you think of when you hear a mission’s presentation start turning to the need for more?
Maybe it goes something like this…..”Oh no, he’s going to ask me to give more money in support. I just gave to the last missionary, and finances are really tight right now.”
Even if you always love giving to missions with a cheerful heart, the chances are high that at some point or another you have had that moment of hesitation when you know you are about to be “sold” the need for support.
The needs around the world are important, and it does take resources to get there. God is faithful though, and he always provides exactly what is needed.
I recently heard an amazing presentation by a missionary couple visiting our church which turned my hesitation upside down. The reality is that they were seeking to raise support, but he never once mentioned finances. He focused on our hearts!
There is a commonly used verse in missions from Matthew 9:38 “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”
This young man used this verse to demonstrate to us the need for MORE in a way that challenged my heart.
The first thing critical to missions that we need more of is not money, or people, or buildings, or planning. Nope, we need more PRAYER first and foremost. Jesus says that the harvest is plentiful….people will believe if they hear….more workers are needed….but the first critical need isn’t for more people to go. It’s for us to pray!
The fields are white with harvest, so PRAY! Jesus tells us to pray and connect with God about this critical issue. We must be interceding for the world and connecting with the heart of God for the lost. We must pray for those who are currently working in the harvest fields. And we must pray for God to raise up more workers who would go.
More prayer…..now that’s a heart issue! How often do I just give a few dollars rather than engaging my heart with the earnestness of prayer for the lost, prayer for the hurting, prayer for those serving, and prayer for God to equip others?
Who knows…maybe by praying for more laborers, He will equip you to become one!
The second thing we need more of in missions is SURRENDER.
Wow! I thought missions involved more of an active stance on taking the Word to the world, but surrender is where it all starts.
How can this be?
As Christians, much of the blessing in our lives begins with the vital act of surrender, letting go of control over our own comfort, our finances, our safety, our very LIVES!!! Missions is not about doing good for other people; it is wholly and completely about laying down your life to make Jesus famous!
Matthew 16:24 urges us to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. Surrender is the exact opposite of what the world teaches, and it is therefore extremely powerful. When we lay ourselves at His feet, God will use us in ways beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.
The last item is more GOING.
This part makes sense based upon the Great Commission’s command to go and teach and make disciples. However, there is far more to it in light of prayer and surrender.
For example, let’s look at Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6. One of my favorite passages in all the Bible is this powerful scene of lowly man before the throne of God. It is here that Isaiah receives his commission. In the flash of an instant, Isaiah gains a whole new perspective.
He sees ever so clearly who he is and who Almighty God is! The comparison is so shocking that he cries out “Woe is me!” The holiness of God drowns out everything he had ever known. Perhaps Isaiah had even considered himself a good person up to this point. Maybe he was the one trying to help others even when no one else would. Maybe he was the one everyone thought would be most likely to succeed.
None of that mattered now! Isaiah clearly realizes his broken, helpless estate before the Most Holy One!
God does not force Isaiah to go. He doesn’t even command him to be the one to go. He very simply asks the question, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for me?”
Isaiah saw the need and had a new burden for the people based on his encounter with God. “Here am I. Send me.” When we faithfully pray and surrender our hearts and lives to God, he will meet with us and put a burden in our hearts for people that can never be shaken.