No Alternative

By an Alliance team member serving in the North and Central Asia Region

“There is no alternative to strategic prayer in missions,” says Tim Crouch, vice president of Alliance International Ministries. “Prayer is helping us make significant headway in fulfilling the Great Commission.” This powerful truth is illustrated in the following article, adapted from an Alliance global team member’s recent update.

As I was praying for several unbelieving central Asian friends, it struck me: some people who hear the gospel receive Christ readily, but with others it’s difficult to share the good news because they’re determined not to hear it!

Why We Pray

Last month, after our colleagues invited her to come to Him, they witnessed Debbie* walk right into the arms of Jesus. A few days earlier, however, another woman, also named Debbie, hurriedly left the dinner we were hosting in our home because she sensed we were going to “try to convert her.”

How do we explain the difference in these reactions? I believe Ephesians 2:4–5 (NAS) points to the answer:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

But GOD! This is why we pray and why we ask you to pray—it is God who opens hearts and draws people to Himself.

Over and over again, the Lord encourages us with visible answers to our prayers. (I believe there are many other answers that we can’t see.) He wants us to continue to come to Him in faith, asking Him to do what only He can do—make someone like Debbie, who was dead in her trespasses, alive together with Christ.

*Names changed

What You Can Do

Pray

  • “Praise God that the house church with which we partner has seen a couple of conversions in the past month,” the author writes. “Also, when we prayed and asked God for more central Asians to attend our Sunday night language classes, we saw an immediate increase.”
  • The prayers of God’s people strengthen Alliance workers to live and serve across the globe. Use our weekly Alliance Prayer Requests to join the worldwide Alliance family in praying for them.

Give

  • Give to the Great Commission Fund (GCF) and support Alliance workers, who pour themselves out to share the light of Jesus with those who are spiritually blind.
  • Give now

Learn More

Check out “Praying without Sleeping,” which details how God impressed an Alliance worker to intercede for an unbeliever from central Asia.

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