Category: Bible

Praying Scripture for Missionaries (or anyone, really!)

On June 16, 2016

Sometimes it is hard to know what or how to pray for those missionaries who live so far away in another country and another culture. It’s always helpful to pray for their health and fruitfulness, but beyond that it might seem like you are praying the same prayers all the time. In the last few years, I have found praying the words of Scripture for my family to be a helpful practice. Andrew Case has a book called “Setting Their Hope in God” that has taught me how to pray Scripture for our children.

So, as I have been reading the Bible lately, I found two passages that I thought would be great ones to pray over missionaries. If you ever wonder what you should pray, other than the normal things, maybe the examples below will help you. And while you’re at it, using this model to pray for yourself or loved ones might bless your prayer life like it has mine!

“Lord, please help [Missionary’s name] be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of You, God, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You. May they be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks you You, who have qualified them to shared in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Taken from Colossians 1: 9-12.)

“God of peace, You brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant. Please equip [Missionary’s name] with everything good that they may do your will, working in them that which is pleasing in Your sight, thr0ugh Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” [Taken from Hebrews 13:20-21]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

By kimberly

On August 10, 2015

In Bible, Chad, Ministry

Remember the woman who months ago gave birth to a premie baby? He is now a healthy 6 month old baby! Remember me sharing that this baby was born out of an adulterous relationship? The prospects were dim. Fear that her other children would be taken away was real. Shame was evident. Insecurity of her future was looming. Hope was nowhere in her sight. Hunger was a daily source of concern (I was providing her meals for weeks along with another worker because her family shunned her). Well, I want to share with you today that God did not give up on this woman or her family. He has continued to show himself faithful to her. Not only is she regularly employed as a language helper for two adults in town (me being one), which has provided for her daily needs of feeding her children, but her husband finally returned. I had the opportunity to confront her about her sin and the need for her to take responsibility, act humbly, and ask for forgiveness. When all the respected family elders around her were encouraging her to say nothing, she chose to ask her husband’s forgiveness after three days of me talking to her. I shared the story of the woman caught in adultery, assured her that she can be forgiven of her sins, but that Jesus commands us to sin no more. God provided an opportunity for a local believer from her people group to pray with her and then challenge her when passing her on the road after my conversation with her. In the end, her husband forgave her and chose to keep her as his wife. Is the story over? No. Is everything easy now? No. But we are seeing small steps towards reconciliation – not just in the earthly marriage relationship of this couple but also in my friend’s spiritual life. Continue to pray for her to be humble, for God to open her eyes to all that He is, and for her husband to have an opportunity to hear the gospel and choose to follow Jesus. Praise God with me for the ways He has made himself evident in a situation that at one time appeared to be completely hopeless!

Pleasing Man or Pleasing God? Thoughts on Galatians 1:10

By kimberly

On March 24, 2015

In Bible, Ministry, Other thoughts

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

In ministry and life, it is easy to muddy our motives. Even the best “works” for the Lord that we do are often tainted with the sin of pride or the desire to please others. This is no less true for the missionary on a foreign field. We give up a lot: family, friends, church, comforts, health, and many things that are familiar. In return, the majority of people back home who support our ministry can put us on a higher pedestal than is deserved. Many forget that we are normal people, struggling with normal sins and problems and temptations that every Christian struggles with. The only difference is we are doing it in a strange culture. Many times the sins and struggles become even more magnified: there is no cushion for hiding our sin problems when we are stripped of all that is familiar.

This verse in Galatians 1 has convicted me recently. At times when I have hard days and complain in my heart about the heat, the work load, the lack of conveniences, the lack of fellowship and deep friendship because of our chosen lifestyle, I am forgetting who I am living for. If my eyes and heart are focused consistently on the Lord, aiming to please Him, I am counted worthy to serving Him and am able to do so joyfully. When I look at my own problems or at my lack of worldly wants and needs, or even at the encouragement we receive from supporters, but forget Who it is I am serving, I quickly lose my joy and desire to serve. According to this verse, I also don’t deserve the privilege of being a servant of Christ. He has promised that following Him means losing much in the present life and gaining much in the life to come. How can I be His servant if my eyes remain on the things of this world? I am not worthy.

As one woman wrote me in a letter a few months ago, “You may be normal people with normal problems but at least you are serving.” This encouraged my heart. It is true for each of us who follows Jesus, no matter which country we are in. We are all normal people with normal sins and normal problems. There are two questions that must be answered. The first is: “Is Jesus enough? Is He worth it?” Is Jesus worth giving up, each day, my desires, my comforts, even those things I think are necessary to my well-being? The next question is, “Are we serving the Lord alone, or still seeking the approval of man?” Am I serving with a pure heart even when no one knows? Am I working wholeheartedly and with joy when no one says thank you? May it always be said of you and me that despite all, we are serving the Lord. He is enough for us.

I write this from my heart partly in attempt to encourage you to remain steadfast, keeping your eyes fixed on the prize which is Jesus, our joy. He is worth living for and dying for. I also write this as a plea for prayer. We need God’s grace daily, each moment, if we are going to thrive in life and ministry for the long term. If I am not seeking the approval of God alone in a place of ministry like Chad, then why am I here?! Your prayers and encouragement to us are important as God continues to sanctify us and prayerfully use us in this place, and we are grateful for you.

The Book of Colossians and Our Unbelieving Neighbors

By kimberly

On January 3, 2015

In Bible, Chad, Islam, Ministry

I have been reading and studying Colossians this past month, and it is so rich. It is a great book to use in discipling new believers. One observation I made during my study – chapter 2:20-22 talks about the “regulations” that the Colossians had submitted themselves to, even though they had “died” with Christ. Verse 23: “These [rules] have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” Legalism seems to be a natural part of our humanity – if we have a list of rules to conquer, our pride can fool us into thinking we are doing ok. I can’t help but read this portion of Colossians and think of my Muslim neighbors all around who have not yet submitted themselves to the “beloved Son” (1:13), “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1:14). Instead they are bound by legalism, believing that somehow their prayers, fasting, modesty, chanting, alms giving – “good” works and following of the rules is enough to reconcile them to God. However, Chapter 1, verse 21 and 22 tell us that we were “once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,” (indulging in the flesh) but Jesus “has now reconciled [us] in his body of flesh by his death in order to present [us] holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” Pray with us that “God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…that [we] may make it clear.” Pray that many will feel the hypocrisy in their own lives, the futility of their works before a holy God. Pray that we will “walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time….that [our] speech [will} always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that [we may know how [we] ought to answer each person” (4:2-6). Pray for us and yourself also – that we as believers will not fall into the lie that ministry or good deeds gains us approval before our Father. Thank you, Jesus that your death has made us alive, “having forgiven us all our trespasses” (2:13).