How Do We Remember the Unreached in Prayer?
The number of people living without knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ is vast and vastly overwhelming. What can we do?
Some of us will move across the world and serve the Lord with our lives, and even our deaths, to see the unreached reached. But all of us are called to pray—to pray that God’s name be made known from Jerusalem to Samaria to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Even when we may not have succeeded in our past prayer habits, His mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). With that in mind, here are three practical ways to start praying for the unreached daily.
1. Use the Mundane
No matter our jobs, our school situation, or our daily habits, we’re all more like each other than we realize. We take showers or baths and we put on shoes. It can be easy to get caught up in the mundane tasks we do or the mundane parts of our work or daily life.
When you’re doing your daily, mundane tasks (filling out a report, folding laundry, starting on another assignment), what if you took the extra mental space you have to pray? To pray for others who might be taking care of their families. And their family’s clothing needs in an area of the world where they have not heard the name of Jesus. To pray for the business worker who doesn’t know the transforming power of the gospel even as you complete your business tasks.
We can use the “mundane” parts of our lives to pray. To pray that God would work in the mundane to bring others to Himself.
2. Remind to Remember
Much fills our time. We forget. We forget to start that new habit, to text that friend, to pick up that grocery item. But we can find ways to remind ourselves to remember, and praying for the unreached can be one of these areas.
Because of its geographic location, a portion of the world where many of the unreached live is called the 10/40 window. We see 10:40 twice a day: 10:40 am and 10:40 pm. What if we used this as a reminder? Try setting phone notifications at either of these daily times. When you’re notified, pray for those in the 10/40 window.
3. Teach the What
We might be unsure of specific ways to pray for the unreached, and this can hinder us from praying as often or as deeply as we could.
Simple: we can equip ourselves with knowing how. Try exploring The Joshua Project to find information on how many unreached people groups exist and find details about the various groups. Use the 7-Day Prayer Guide for a simple plan to learn about specific groups in southeast Asia and find direct, specific ways to pray for each unique group. Talk to others who have worked with the unreached or learn from reading books about journeys to reach the unreached. Each piece you learn can help you understand the what of praying for the unreached.
We don’t need to be daunted at this large task of praying for the unreached masses. We can start simple (and start today!) as we are faithful to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). And we must not cease to pray for the Lord to move so that we might see the unreached reached and the world impacted for Christ and His kingdom.
To learn even more about the unreached, follow David Platt’s journey through the Himalayas as he wrestles with how to respond to urgent physical and spiritual need in the world. Find out more at somethingneedstochange.com.
