A Heart for Missions

The quickly approaching Cross Conference I'll be attending with many others my age from around the country has my mind racing with this phrase, "a heart for missions." What is meant by this? Who has it? Well that can be summed up easily: As followers of Christ we are all called to serve him and in doing that we are to share his gospel and expand his kingdom. You may be asking, "If we are all called to serve him and share, does this mean we should all have a heart for missions?" And the answer is, drum roll please... (I am ferociously tapping on my lap at the moment, just picture it in your head) YES! It is yes. We should all have a heart for missions because if it is in fact filled with Christ and his love then we should be wanting to serve his greater call upon our lives. 

Now, I am not meaning by this that we all should be selling our stuff, raising the money, and purchasing plane tickets to fly off to the nearest foreign country with people groups needing to be reached, but to realize that we are called to aid in this mission in whatever ways we are able. We can reach people in our communities that do not know Christ, if we have the funds we can support those that feel the call to go overseas to reach those people groups, or we could go ourselves. There are many ways to get involved but there is one crucial thing we all must participate in if we are to reach these people for Christ: prayer. 

We all must be in prayer for the people serving (which in case you haven't figured it out by now is us all) and the ways we can reach and serve those around us. God will reveal to us how we are able to aid in this. But let us go to him, so we he may reveal to us and open the opportunities for his spirit to work through us in reaching those that have not heard or believed and for his spirit to be softening the hearts of those people so they may hear and respond. 

I recently received an email from Cross con about praying for workers. Though this has been on my heart for awhile, it’s what lead me to writing this. There are 2.9 billion people without access to the gospel and Jesus commands us to pray. So I encourage you, as I was encouraged even more by this call to be praying for workers. Be praying that God may rise up people to go and reach these people groups and be in prayer for how you might be able to serve in this mission where you are if you are not called to go. I ask also that you be in prayer for this conference that thousands of college students from all around are attending that God might raise us up to go and help fulfill his mission and that he will do incredible things through this conference for his glory!

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21