This week the blog is sponsored by The Master’s Academy International. They invite you to join them for an important week of prayer beginning July 22.
Our Lord’s Final Command
The final command our Lord Jesus gave to all who would follow Him was the command known as the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20). The Great Commission is commonly referred to as the missionary’s mandate, but, in fact, the Great Commission is a command for each and every Christian. Certainly, not all Christians will be called to overseas missions, but all are called to obey the call to, “Go… and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you.”
The question for us as Christians, then, is in light of this truth, how should our lives be transformed by it? How does this affect our time, our priorities, our actions, and our hearts?
Fulfilling the Great Commission
The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) exists for this very purpose: that all nations would hear the name of Christ, and that many would come to seek, love, and serve Him. Our ministry works to train indigenous church leaders to be approved pastor-teachers, able to equip their local churches to make biblically sound disciples. Since our founding, there have been over 7,000 students who have graduated and been sent into ministry throughout the world. Currently, there are nineteen TMAI Training Centers equipping men in North, Central, and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
As Christians, the deepest concern in our hearts should be that all the world would come to hear, know, love, serve, and proclaim the name of Christ.
Why We Pray
Each summer, we ask our supporters around the world to commit for a week to pray for these training centers. This annual summer prayer event is called Together We Pray. We take this opportunity to pray as individuals alongside our ministry partners and together as local church congregations. For one week, each day is dedicated to one region, focusing our prayers specifically on the TMAI Training Centers in that region. In war-torn areas, developing nations, and against social and cultural backlash, the men from these centers work, study, preach, learn, raise families, and shepherd the church. During this week, we lift these men, their families, and their students up to our Lord together in prayer.
We pray because this is commanded of us. The apostle Paul writes, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the Word, so that we may speak the mystery of Christ.” (Colossians 4:2-3). Our theme for Together We Pray 2024—”Devoted to Prayer”—is taken from this command.
The word “devoted” holds an extreme emphasis—it is to be steadfast, to endure, and to be courageously persistent. And one cannot be devoted to prayer without knowing what to specifically pray for. To be devoted to prayer means we must be aware of specific needs, and to be watchful necessitates a level of personal understanding and relationship that penetrates to the furthest levels of the heart. As Pastor John MacArthur says, “Prayer is the most important speech that your mouth will ever utter. Prayer is a matter of proving to God the deepest concern of your heart.”
As Christians, the deepest concern in our hearts should be that all the world would come to hear, know, love, serve, and proclaim the name of Christ. To that end, we invite you to join us in obedience to our Savior, as we pray steadfastly, specifically, and expectantly for our fellow brothers and sisters across the world.
Commit to Pray Daily for the Nations, July 22–27
Sign up to receive a daily prayer guide highlighting specific global regions, outlining their current challenges and needs, along with three to six prayer requests from TMAI Training Centers and Christians within those regions.
