Crying Out (from our computers) to the God Who Hears

COVID-19 has forced more of the world to “stay-at-home” than ever in the history of humanity. Undoubtedly, the Lord has a multitude of purposes, but one change he has already wrought through the virus has been beautiful: more prayer for the nations. We hope you will join that great effort of supplication with fresh vigor. 

God’s people are praying for missions now more than ever. Because they are shut up in their homes, they have found one thing they can do with fellow saints: they can call out to God. Across many churches and denominations, saints have established prayer time via online platforms to seek God’s face for the nations. They are praying that earth will be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Here at RPGM, we have already seen very specific answers to some of those prayers that have been uttered as people have assembled digitally. The Lord our God has united our hearts and moved us to tears. Somehow, when God sits us down in silence to think about him, about ourselves, and about what matters most, our minds as Christians are turned to his love for the nations. 

We should not be surprised. The Lord has a history of hemming his people in until they cry out to him with a certain earnestness and urgency and get a fresh perspective on his purposes. Remember when God called his servant Jonah? He called that preacher from Israel to preach good news to the great city of Nineveh in the eighth century B.C. It was a foreign city. Jonah didn’t want to go, so he ran and he sailed—the other way. God sent Jonah overboard and appointed a great fish to swallow him and hold him in quarantine for three days. In that tight spot, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He concluded his prayer by committing to the Lord’s plan in Jonah 2:9:

But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord.

And, when the Lord released Jonah to freedom by speaking to the fish who had hemmed him in, the prophet went to Nineveh where God showed great mercy. Hardship and limitations led Jonah to prayer, to confession, to give thanks, to commitment, and to a willingness to participate in God’s plan. How many of us have made promises to God to participate in the proclamation of the gospel in the past...but have forgotten? How many of us have unpaid vows? How many of us need to take time off from our own agendas and simply cry out to the Lord for others? How many of us is he calling to engage in the work of missions with the voice of thanksgiving today?

The Lord seems to have most of us confined at home for a season. His ear is always open. He hears through fish walls and seawater. He hears through our house walls and through virtual connections to others. Salvation belongs to him, and we pray that all the ends of the earth would turn to him and be saved. We hope you’ll join us in this great endeavor.

Please contact us if you are interested in joining a weekly prayer time for RPGM and other likeminded global missions during the COVID-19 crisis. Or, if you would like to learn more about how to pray, see the Pray page on our website.