Call to Prayer: Joining God’s Heart for Mission
At the orientation for the Perspectives course, a panel answered questions about their journeys in mission from Jenny Fox (left). To her right is Clair Good, Lizzette Hernandez, and Blake Wood. Photo: Jon Trotter
Prayer is a fundamental underpinning of how we partner with God to engage in our small part of the great gospel task.
By Jon Trotter
The gospel is for everyone. This tagline from the VMMissions Church of Many Cultures campaign is not just a slogan but a bold statement of belief and action. God is a God of mission from the beginning of history and throughout the entire biblical story. God deeply desires his creation to be reconciled and made new through a true relationship with him, incarnated and made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus. God also gives the church the responsibility to make disciples who are agents of reconciliation, and to multiply communities of Jesus-followers to every people group in the world.
The nearly 80 students currently participating in the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course in Harrisonburg, Va., are learning about God’s heart for mission and the mandate that all believers have been given to go and make disciples of all peoples. With that clarity, a number of students have shared how they feel convicted to live in their circles in an open-handed way, eager to use the opportunities God gives them to be a representative of Jesus in every context.
In one class, students learned that God’s heart is for the whole creation to worship the Creator. But how can people do that if they don’t know their Creator? Paul says this best in Romans 10:14: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (NIV).
The purpose that all followers of Jesus are given is to bear witness to the love of God and invite all people into the family of God. We are all given authority and instruction to do this because of God’s great love for us. Some are called to be sent out as vanguards of the good news around the world. Others are called to pray and support those sent far and wide. Many VMMissions workers are supported by a Ministry Support Team, which helps the worker share stories and raise ministry funds, but the most essential thing they do is join together in prayer to cover every aspect of the ministry and attune their perspectives to that of God’s heart.
As we engage in our small part of the great gospel task, we partner with God’s heart and we join in God’s movement. Prayer is a fundamental underpinning of how we do that. As followers of Jesus pray together, the Holy Spirit enables us to see the big picture, the grand reality of God’s plan for the restoration for humanity as shown in Revelation 7:9, and to see the immediate needs of the people right in front of us.
Join us in praying that the church—all of us—will bear witness to the in-breaking kingdom in every sphere of life, as we envision a Spirit-filled church of many cultures worshiping the Lord, now and forever.