A Mighty Sword for World Missions

Claim God’s Promises

A Mighty Sword for World Missions

Claim God’s Promises

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19

George Mueller cared for 10,024 orphans and established 117 schools helping a total of 120,000 children get an education. He funded this entirely by prayer, telling no one but God about their needs. What fueled such mighty prayer? It is said that George Mueller always prayed with an open Bible. Friends said he always backed up a prayer with a text. He never started praying until after nurturing his soul from God’s word.

The Bible describes God’s promises as “exceedingly great and precious” (2 Peter 1:3). Joshua could look back at all God’s leading and say, “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed (Joshua 23:14). Would you like to see great things happen in the world through your prayers? Depend on God’s promises in prayer.

Ellen White also saw the great value in claiming God’s promises when we pray and illustrates how. She wrote, “There has never been a time when the people of God have had greater need to claim His promises than now. Let the hand of faith pass through the darkness and grasp the arm of infinite power….If you fall under temptation do not become discouraged. This promise comes ringing down along the line to our time: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” I feel that for this one promise a continual song of thanksgiving ought to go forth....Let us gather up these precious jewels of promise, and when Satan accuses us of our great sinfulness and tempts us to doubt the power of God to save, let us repeat the words of Christ, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37)” (Heavenly Places 264).

Ellen White saw that these promises were not just for the world, but for our own family members as well. She wrote, “God has promised to give wisdom to those that ask in faith, and He will do just as He said He would. He is pleased with the faith that takes Him at His

word. The mother of Augustine prayed for her son’s conversion. She saw no evidence that the Spirit of God was impressing his heart, but she was not discouraged. She laid her finger upon the texts, presenting before God His own words, and pleaded as only a mother can. Her deep humiliation, her earnest importunities, her unwavering faith, prevailed, and the Lord gave her the desire of her heart. Today He is just as ready to listen to the petitions of His people. ‘His hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear;’ and if Christian parents seek Him earnestly, He will fill their mouths with arguments, and, for His name’s sake, will work mightily in their behalf in the conversion of their children. (Prayer 249)

She urged us to speak to God with mighty faith based on His reliable character. “How thankful should the believer be for these promises! I am thankful for the faith I have in God’s Word. I claim His promises, saying, “You said it, Lord. You asked me to come to you. I come expecting you to help me and bless me.” And He proves the truth and the preciousness of his words.” {RH January 7, 1909, Art. A, par. 14}

May these Bible promises inspire you to pray for the needs of the world and your own personal requests with mighty faith in a Prayer-Answering God.

You may also wish to unite with others in lifting up your requests and claiming God’s promises together. “There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time. But we are not ignorant of his devices. It is possible to resist his power. When the way is prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come. Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God’s people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth. Wicked men and devils cannot hinder the work of God, or shut out His presence from the assemblies of His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises” (Messages to Young People 133).

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hebrews 10:17

Pray for the Nations

For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11

Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. Zechariah 2:11

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

Pray for More Laborers

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Pray for the Spoken Witness

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Ephesians 6:19

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ. Colossians 4:2-3

But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Matthew 10:19-20

Pray for Healing Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. Jeremiah 33:16

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they…will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Mark 16:17-18

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:13-16

Pray for Conversions

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:1-3

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. John 16:8

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Pray for the Poor

Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes—with the princes of His people.Psalm 113:5-8

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. Psalm 68:5-6

Pray for the Rich

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:24-27

Pray for the Persecuted

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

For I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:19-20

I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers. Romans 15:30-31

Pray for those Bound by Spirits

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, ‘Destroy!’ Deuteronomy 33:27

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:28-29

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand….praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:12, 13, 18

Pray for a Unified Witness

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:20-23

Pray for Our Own Children

Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street. Lamentations 2:19

But thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.” Isaiah 49:25

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass, like willows by the watercourses.’ One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel. Isaiah 44:3-5

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13

Pray for the Holy Spirit

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!Luke 11:9-13

Pray for the Finishing of the Great Commission

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9

And the nations of those who are saved[a] shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Revelation 21:24

Pray by the Spirit’s Power

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

Pray His Promises Perseveringly

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

All Bible quotations are from the New Kings James Version unless otherwise indicated.

It is past time for the everlasting gospel to go to every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. Who will intercede for the lost? Who will pray for more laborers for the final glorious harvest? Who will say, “Here I am Lord, send me?” Take God’s word in your hand and claim His promises as a mighty sword for world missions!