The open door of prayer

Hechos de los Apóstoles 12:1–10 KJV 1900

1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. 6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. 7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

Explain: The story

How Peter arrived at the huge locked Roman prison gate

How there was no way he could get through it

Example: How there are many times on the mission field where we are faced with impossible situations.

Explain: How the gate was torn open by the power of God.

This was a miracle that was done by God.

But how was it that this miracle came about?

V5 … but prayer

The church was praying for Peter.

And it was this prayer that saved him.

It was this prayer that caused the God of heaven to send His angel to break Peter out of prison and lead Him through that locked iron gate.

In this conference we are talking about the open door of missions.

Last night we spoke about the importance of making the decision to go through these open doors, having the motive of the love of Christ, and the importance of taking up our cross and following Him.

Tonight and every night of this conference I want to talk about specific open doors of opportunity that we can go through to help get the gospel around the world.

Tonight I want to preach about that first open door, and that is the open door of prayer.

If you want to go through the open door of missions, one way you can do that is to become a prayer warrior for missions.

Prayer is what changed Peter’s situation, prayer is what changes the impossible challenges that are faced in reaching the world with the gospel.

Let me give you an example from the past of how prayer has changed the course of world evangelism.

One of the greatest example of how prayer can greatly help in missions is an event that happened in the year 1727.

The story begins when Protestant refugees from the Catholic country of Moravia, following the legacy of reformer John Hus, came to Germany and settled on the land of Count Zinzendorf.

The community of about 300 people was soon attacked by division and disagreement, and the 27-year-old Zinzendorf cried out to God for reconciliation and revival.

1727 the small community of 300 started a round the clock prayer vigil…with one person praying for an hour at a time.

They based the prayer meeting on Lev 6:13

Levítico 6:13 KJV 1900

The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

This prayer vigil would go on unbroken for the next 100 years.

God gave this group a great revival that led to one of the most powerful examples of Christian missions that we have in history.

Count Zinzendorf their leader, was a man with a tremendous burden to see the lost saved around the world and his motto was, “I have one passion; it is for Jesus, and Jesus only.”

The community became greatly burdened for taking the gospel to the unreached people of the world.

After one message on missions and a call for laborers, 26 men came forward to go out as missionaries to the unreached places of the world.

Keep in mind they were a congregation of only around 300.

The Moravians recognized themselves in debt to the world as the trustees of the gospel.

Over the next 65 years, this small group of believers would send 300 missionaries all over the world.

William Carey, who is known as the father of modern missions, was deeply inspired by the example of the Moravians and took their prolific missions activity as a personal challenge:

Carey said, “See what the Moravians have done! Cannot we follow their example and in obedience to our Heavenly Master go out into the world, and preach the Gospel to the heathen?”

The Moravians had a powerful influence on the birth of the Great Awakening as well.

John Wesley, one of the leaders of this revival that hit the UK and the American colonies in the 1730s and 40s, was shocked and marked by witnessing the faith of the Moravians amid a storm at sea, and went on to fully trust Christ for salvation under their preaching.

Wesley lived with the Moravians at Herrnhut for several months, and the impact they had on him was carried over into his leadership of the Methodist Revival and the Great Awakening alongside Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, in which tens of thousands were powerfully convicted of sin and surrendered to Jesus.

One of the most powerful testimonies amongst the many Moravian missionaries happened in 1732.

In 1732, five years after the initial prayer revival, two Moravian tradesmen, 36-year-old David Nitschmann and 26-year-old Johann Leonhard Dober, became the first missionaries to leave Herrnhut.

They heard of the plight of African slaves on the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean, and how there was a spiritual hunger but they had no one to share the gospel with them.

They determined to go by any means necessary, even when they were told they would have to sell themselves into slavery in order to minister among the slaves.

As they stood on the ship departing from the wharf, looking for what they believed to be the last time of the faces of their loved ones, they raised their fists and cried, “MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING.”

What motivated these missionaries to go as far as to even sell themselves into slavery in order to fulfill the great commission…it was their passion for Jesus Christ.

These missionaries understood the true motivation that is needed to truly fulfill the great commission…the love of Christ.

The Love of Christ constraineth us.

Last night we talked about this same motive and how it must be present in our hearts today.

But we also must recognize what caused the great revival in the first place.

It was their prayer.

They prayed for laborers, they prayed for the lost to be saved, they prayed for their own hearts to be softened and to care for the lost.

And the result was a great revival in missions.

That 24 prayer vigil that went on unbroken for 100 years straight literally changed the world.

And folks today, prayer still changes the world.

How can we go through the open door of missions that is in front of us this week, the first thing we must do is pray.

Let me give you three specific things we can pray for in regards to missions.

I would encourage you to write these down.

1. We must pray for more laborers

Mateo 9:38 KJV

38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Please understand that this is the only recorded prayer request of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We learned last night how the heart of Christ is missions.

The heart of Christ is sending laborers into the harvest fields before it is too late.

That should be our heart as well.

Prayer will indeed make a difference regarding how many people God calls into the harvest field.

Example: The Moravian prayer vigil and how the result was many laborers sent into the harvest field and even the modern mission movement itself.

Example: Hudson Taylor and how he was confined to his bed and prayed and prayed for new missionaries to China. Missionary recruits began to come to his house to speak with him in answer to his prayers.

Let me ask this serious question.

Do you pray every day that God would call, train, and send missionaries to the mission field?

Note: God must call an individual to go to the field (Acts 13)…

I would never want to persuade someone to go to the mission field who is not called of God to do so.

You must be called to go.

But I think we often can have an unbiblical, almost calvinistic view of that call.

Like God has a set number of people that He is going to call to the field and they will be called no matter what.

But that is not what we see in Scripture.

What we see in Scripture is that God is calling people, and how many He calls, can be changed by the prayers of God’s people.

I can pray that God would call.

Example: I believe the reason God called me was because someone was praying for laborers.

I pray that every day.

Our Lord commanded us directly to do so.

Prayer moves the God of heaven to action.

Prayer can affect who God calls to go.

How many He calls.

If this was not so, why would Jesus tell us to pray for it?

Would you pray that maybe God would use your children on the mission field?

Note: Some will not pray this because they struggle with surrender. They don’t want God to call their kids to the mission field.

Example: Mrs. Nihart, she told me that since I was a kid she has prayed for me about God calling me to be a missionary.

That is another message, but it is a real problem.

If we are going to go through the open door of missions that is before us, it will begin with fervent and daily prayer by God’s people for laborers.

2. We must pray for the missionaries on the field

We saw in our text how God used the prayers of the church to save Peter from prison.

We must understand that when a missionary asks you to pray for him, its not just a catch phrase.

Our prayer cards are not just like a business card.

We need you to pray for us.

The apostle Paul pleaded for Christians to pray for him.

2 Tesalonicenses 3:1–2 KJV 1900

1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

Notice how he asks for prayer for his ministry.

That God’s Word would have free course.

And he also asks for prayer for safety.

There are wicked men, who are controlled by the devil, who seek to do them harm.

And prayer can provide safety.

Example: The brick that did not break the window

Example: The time God woke me up at 3am to ward off the thief

Example: How I believe God sent an angel to help me in Johannesburg

Almost every missionary will have similar stories to what I have just told you.

God takes care of us…and you folks move the God of heaven to do so by praying for us.

Example: The women who said she prayed but not for me specifically…”Lord bless the missionaries”

Please, take my prayer card, or put my name on your prayer list and pray for me by name.

1º Samuel 12:23 KJV 1900

23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

Pray for the missionaries families

Pray for their health.

Example: The lady who keeps emailing me about my health.

Pray for them to be faithful and stay encouraged

Pray for their spiritual life, to stand for what is right.

Pray for their requests that they mention in their prayer letters.

Example: You can sign up for our prayer letter on the homepage of our website and get a direct email.

Just please, I say with the apostle Paul…

1 Tesalonicenses 5:25 KJV 1900

25 Brethren, pray for us.

3. We must pray for the lost

2 Corintios 4:3–4 KJV 1900

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Explain: The spiritual battle involved in the war for the souls of men

Many have their eyes blinded by Satan

Example: The man in the taxi who resisted my explanation of the gospel because he saw an image of Mary in a puddle after a rainstorm

What is needed to break down these spiritual strongholds is the power of prayer.

Explain: How Bez said this is the darkest place he has ever been to.

Mateo 17:21 KJV 1900

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

As Christians, we must fight the battle for souls first and most importantly on our knees.

Example: The prayer revival during the bus days.

Will you pray for the lost souls in Colombia and that God would open their eyes to the truth?

Conclusion

Example: Many times I have felt the prayers of God’s people during the most difficult times of ministry.

Biblical Example: Moses holding up the rod on the mountain while Joshua fought in the valley. When he lowered the rod, they lost.

This is true today for your missionaries on the field.

When you pray for them, they win, when you cease to pray, they loose.

We all want our missionaries to be faithful on the field.

We want them to stay, we want them to minister.

But yet often we are not faithfully praying for them.

How is your prayer life today Christian.

If you had to give me a choice between more money or more faithful prayers I would choose the prayers.

Because I know how important it is to our ministry in Colombia.

Please pray for more laborers

Please pray for your missionaries

And please pray for the lost to be saved.

Invitation