Look, and Pray

Introducing TheCountryOfTheWeek.com

WHERE WE ARE HEADED TONIGHT

A word we need to recover: mobilization

Something I noticed on the road

The Haystack Prayer Meeting

A short devotional: look, identify, and pray

Why we are looking at Lebanon

TheCountryOfTheWeek.com

Prayer

OPENING

Tonight is not a normal Sunday night. Tonight we are opening a window on the world.

I. A WORD WE NEED TO RECOVER

A. Mobilization

It is a military word before it is a missions word.

To mobilize an army means to call it up, organize it, and move it from readiness into action. It comes from the same root as mobile, meaning able to move.

B. Mobilization Moves the Church from Information to Action

In missions, mobilization is the work of moving the church from:

“I know about missions.” To “I am praying, giving, and going.”

C. Mobilization Changes Our Posture

Mobilization is not merely a program. It is a shift in posture, from spectator to sender.

II. WHAT I NOTICED ON THE ROAD

Some of this trip was shaped by the Student Volunteer Movement, often called the SVM.

It was a wave of college-age missions mobilization that grew out of the same spirit as the Haystack Prayer Meeting.

Beginning in 1886, its traveling secretaries went from school to school and church to church with one watchword:

“The evangelization of the world in this generation.”

Thousands of students signed a card committing their lives to go.

A. Mobilized Churches Stay Informed

Here is what I noticed: the churches that were actually mobilizing people did not simply have a missions budget. They had a rhythm of staying informed.

1. They Prayed by Name

They did not pray only in generalities.

They prayed for a country, a people, or a missionary family.

2. They Tracked What Was Happening

Somebody was paying attention to what was happening on the mission field every week.

Prayer letters

3. Information Came Before the Offering

People knew the need before they were asked to meet it.

They were informed givers.

B. LOOK, IDENTIFY, AND PRAY

A. Look Out onto the Harvest

John 4:35

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

“Lift up your eyes, and look.”

That is a command, not a suggestion.

The word behind “look” means more than taking a passing glance. It means to gaze at something, study it, and take full account of it.

It means looking until you actually see.

B. Identify the Needs

Matthew 9:36

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

Jesus saw the multitudes as they actually were.

He recognized that they were:

Fainting Scattered Like sheep without a shepherd Part of a plentiful harvest In need of labourers

There is a command here that we often skip past: look and evaluate.

Before we pray with understanding, and long before anyone goes anywhere, Jesus tells us to lift up our eyes and look at what is in front of us.

C. Pray for Labourers

Matthew 9:37–38

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

Jesus did not move directly from seeing to sending.

He moved from seeing, to praying, to sending.

1. Look

See the fields as they actually are, not merely as we assume them to be.

2. Identify

Understand the people, their spiritual condition, and the needs before them.

3. Pray

Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers.

It is His harvest, not ours.

D. The Pattern

Look out onto the harvest.

Identify the needs.

Pray for labourers.

V. TONIGHT, WE LOOK AT LEBANON

A. Tonight Is the Look

Tonight is not the sending. Tonight is the looking.

We are going to lift up our eyes toward one country: Lebanon.

B. What Are We Looking For?

We want to take an honest look at:

Who lives there

What they believe

The history of Christianity there

Where the gospel has gone

Where faithful gospel witness is still needed

How we can pray for Lebanon by name instead of only praying in generalities

VI. THE RESOURCES

A. TheCountryOfTheWeek.com

This is what I want our church family to have every week: a place to look before we pray.

B. What the Website Provides

1. A Country Profile

A helpful introduction to the country of the week.

2. Historical and Cultural Background

Information about the country and its people.

3. Information About Christianity

An overview of Christianity, churches, believers, and evangelical witness within the country.

4. Specific Prayer Needs

Clear needs that help us pray specifically instead of generally.

5. Missionary Connections

Information that connects the country with our missionaries and Faith Promise missions giving.

C. How to Use It

Bookmark the website

Read the country profile

Use it during your quiet time

Discuss it with your family

Pray for the country throughout the week

VII. CONCLUSION

A. Lift Up Your Eyes

Jesus said:

“Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

B. Recognize the Need

The harvest is plentiful.

The labourers are few.

C. Follow the Pattern

Look out onto the harvest.

Identify the needs.

Pray for labourers.

Tonight, let us look at Lebanon, and let us pray.