“It has been said, with much truth, that the single word help is the best ingredient of prayer. Whatever else it is, prayer is always, at least implicitly and usually explicitly, a cry for help, an honest expression of need, predicated on the thought, I can't get on the way I am.” [1]
Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). That’s a truth that we have to learn and relearn constantly throughout our lives. We are utterly dependent on the grace of God to do anything. Anything.
This is supremely applicable to the task of missions and evangelism. We can’t bring conviction to the soul of another man or woman. We can’t grant repentance to unbelievers held captive to sin. We can’t open hearts to the gospel.
But we must also consider this truth in relation to our deputation ministry. We can’t convince churches to catch our burden for France. We can’t compellingly communicate the importance of church planting and theological education there. We can’t move in hearts or cause congregations to want to partner with us in the gospel ministry.
We can’t even control whether or not a pastor opens an email or answers the phone.
In all of this we need help.
This is why we are seeking prayer partners in our ministry. Even now, when our primary task is making connections and building relationships with churches, we are totally reliant on the working of God. We need his daily grace and help. Will you pray for us in this way? Will you ask God for help on our behalf so that we can successfully build a team of partnering churches to get us to France?
[1] J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom, Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight (InterVarsity Press, 2009), 53.