Travel the World through Prayer

Prayer Thoughts: A monthly memo to encourage us in our prayer life

By Colin Stott, Special to ASSIST News Service

MURRIETA, CA (ANS – March 15, 2016) -- “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” Ps 2:8 NIV.

Here’s the thing: There are no limits to where prayer can take us. We can go anywhere in the world. There are no borders to cross, no visas to get, no crowded airports and no jetlag. No place is too remote or off limits. We can go anywhere the Spirit of God leads us.

If we are concerned for our nation, prayer can take us to the heart of the capitol where we can call on God for our leaders. It can take us into the highest courts in our land where we can pray that our judges would fear God, knowing that the fear of the Lord is just the beginning of wisdom.

Prayer can take us deep into the Amazon to intercede for tribes that are off-limits to missionaries. In a flash we can be in Tibet praying for the gospel to penetrate the spiritual darkness. In prayer we can visit animistic villages in Africa and Hindu shrines in India and pray for the multitudes who worship idols.

Prayer can take us to the prison camps of North Korea to ask for release for the many believers who have been sentenced to years of hard labor for their faith. We can visit trouble spots such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and South Sudan to pray for peace. So many peoples. So many places. So many prayer needs.

God has made the prayers of His people essential for advancing His Kingdom on earth. Still, I suspect most of us don’t pray very much for the world. Not because we are too uncaring or carnal. Most likely our needs and the needs of those close to us so fill our minds that we have little room left to take on the needs of the world.

I suspect also that most of us would pray for the world more if we were better informed and reminded. There are things to help. Mission publications, travel mags, newspapers, Internet and TV give plenty of information. We can pray for whatever catches our attention. There are also many good websites on praying for the world.

Final thought: Best of all prayer can take us to a place not even on the map – the Holy of holies. We can enter the Throne Room of God through the blood of Jesus, bowing down in worship and pouring out our petitions for the nations. After all, God wants all peoples to know Him and commune with Him in this most holy place too.

Photo captions: 1) A North Korean prison camp. 2) You can even pray in the desert. 2) Colin Stott.

About the writer: Colin Stott is International Prayer Coordinator for Global Recordings Network (GRN), a mission that provides audio Bible stories in over six thousand languages and dialects. Colin was born in England. He and his wife Patti make their home in Murrieta in southern California. For more information about GRN and using its materials visit www.globalrecordings.net. For more information about reprinting this article and others in this series on prayer, contact Colin at colinstott@globalrecordings.net .

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