Pray for the entire world

Here lately, I have been tossing and turning thoughts around in my head.  I get more and more hungry everyday for God's word, for that time with Him, for answers, for wisdom.  I don't feel like there is anymore room in my head or heart for any more knowledge, and then BAM... I'm hit with more.  It's a bit overwhelming and i'm so very tired, but still so very hungry.  I look forward to the time I spend in prayer and reading the Word.  Stephen and I are making adjustments and praying and trying to listen.  And daily giving up ourselves for His purpose, though we fail so many times throughout the day, we are striving for more.  I just got done reading the book Radical by David Platt.  All I can say is... it's radical.  If you don't want to be challenged spiritually and if you don't want to desire God and if you don't want to feel convicted and if you are perfectly content with where you are, then DON'T read this book.  David Platt is not God and any book written by man should be weighed against God's true Word.  BUT he has got some strong, solid points that will make you fall to your knees and ready to seek more of God and the book has thrown me into these constant spiritual thoughts, desires, and this constant unfed hunger that is satisfied briefly by reading the Word and spending time in prayer.  The Holy Spirit used his words and this book to speak to me and challenge me to make some serious changes in my life.  At the end of the book he presents a challenge called the Radical Experiment.  Over the course of a year he challenges you to 1. Pray for the entire world.  2. Read through the entire Word.  3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.  4. Spend time in another context.  5. Commit your life to multiplying the community. 

1.  I thought to myself... pray for the entire world... thats pretty broad.  How and where will I even start?  He gives you a link to website and/or book called Operation World.  It gives you a country a day to pray for and then gives you specific prayer needs, and some information on the country.  This particular challenge has truly humbled me and brought me to my knees.  This world is much bigger than what I imagined.  It's filled with hurt, lost people, confused people, and millions of people who are so much less fortunate than you and I.  So why me?  Why did I get to be born in America and be brought up in a Christian home, surrounded by Christian friends?  Why do I get to be healthy and able to pay my bills and live in a house with a car?  No other reason than by the grace of God.  That's it.  Every gift, every penny, every article of clothing, every job, everything that I have or will have is a gift, not aquired from me or what I did or what I have accomplished, but because God allowed me to have it.  What am I to do with this gift?  I am to go.  I am to share. I am to pray. I am to teach.  I have been given the ability and opportunity that so many people around the world do not have.  I have been given the ability to read God's Word and study it and know it and research the meaning and so many around the world know nothing of it, or do not have access to it, or have to try and learn it in secret, without someone to teach them or without being able to research it.  Humbling.  Convicting.  So far, I have prayed for Kasakhstan, Lesotho, South Korea, Kenya, and Kuwait.  For example:  today was Lesotho.  This is a country in South Africa... This is what the prayer list looks like for this particular country.

The people of Lesotho are prisoners of their geographical position, the divisions and powerlessness of their politicians and lack of resources. The 1998 South African invasion has left the population angry and frustrated. Pray that God-fearing, honest leaders may be raised up for the good of all.


The Sotho have been largely Christian for generations but traditionalism and nominalism are widespread in both the Catholic Church and the Lesotho Evangelical Church. The latter is the fruit of the great pioneering work of French missionaries of the Paris Missionary Society. The rapid increase in the number of newer churches with evangelistic zeal has challenged the mainline Churches to become more spiritually vital and relevant. Pray for a humble harmony between the different denominations in place of considerable antagonism. Pray also for this land to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.


The newer, evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic denominations and agencies have seen growth (AIM, YWAM, IMB-SBC, and various South African groups). Special items for prayer:

a) Bible teaching. There are four residential Bible schools, including the Apostolic Church Mobile School and the Jesu Evangeli Centre ministry with potential to provide this.
b) Leadership. The mainline, Catholic and Pentecostal churches in Lesotho have been under local leadership for many years, but a new level of leadership is emerging in the charismatic churches that is cooperating to win the nation for Christ.
c) A nation-wide prayer movement has brought a new dynamism to the witness of believers, but this vision needs to be maintained.
d) Empowering of women in Christian leadership – the absence of many men and the lower proportion of committed Christians among them makes this essential for the survival of congregations.

Areas of special challenge in ministry:

a) AIDS has become a terrible reality and the incidence of HIV has risen to 24% of the adult population. Churches have neither the resources nor the vision to tackle the disaster. (24% is absolutely insane to me.)
b) The Sephiri, a secret society to which many churchgoers from most denominations belong. Witchcraft and ancestor worship are taught and practised along with Christian ritual. Pray for both the exposure of this demonic delusion and for its followers to come to a living faith. (result of lack of biblical knowledge?)
c) The more syncretistic, indigenous churches. Many of these groups with their robes, uniforms and ceremonies have little understanding of the Truth and need to be sensitively helped to a more biblical theology.
d) The mountain population of 600,000, most nominally Christian, but having little contact with the life-giving gospel. Various evangelical agencies have initiated outreach to them. Major agencies are AIM, Joy to the World, YWAM, Fill the Gap Ministries, the Full Gospel Church, Zoe Bible Church and Global Evangelism Ministries. Many villages are only accessible on horseback, others by MAF plane.

Migrant labourers in South Africa. Lack of work opportunities in Lesotho forces 37% of the men to seek employment in the mines and on the farms of South Africa. AEF has a fruitful evangelistic ministry in the mine compounds. Pray for lasting conversions and effective discipling follow-through.

Christian support ministries:

a) MAF has a unique and vital role in this land of high mountains and few roads. MAF planes operate on 26 landing strips – many in difficult terrain. They provide support for Christian workers and a flying doctor service. Pray for these pilots, their families/support teams and for their safety.
b) The JESUS film is being widely used in English and Sotho and is effective in planting new churches.
c) Christian radio – TWR Swaziland broadcasts daily in both English and Sotho.





phew...


I will save the other 4 challenges for another time because my thoughts on the next 4 challenges are still a whirlwind of words.