Here are a few practical, creative ways to involve your whole family (even the smallest child) in reaching the lost as “prayer missionaries.” God may not call your family to another country, but you can pray for people in your neighborhood, school, or around the world—and thus participate in Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18–20).

1. Make a ten-most-wanted list. Create a large poster displaying photos of family members and friends who need to know Christ, and place the poster where only your immediate family members will see it. Let every member of the family select at least one person to include. Commit, as a family, to pray each day for the salvation of each person. Whenever one of your most-wanted comes to Christ, have a celebration and write “Found!” next to his or her picture.

2. Make a missionary notebook. Gather prayer cards and pictures for missionaries supported by your church. Put them on colorful paper in a three-ring binder. Send an email to them to let them know you are praying, and keep their responses or any other newsletters in the binder. If you see an article in the news about the country where they serve, clip it out and use it as a way to pray.

3. Pray for those in authority. Find out the names of government officials in your city, state, and nation. Adopt one or more of them to pray for specifically as the Lord leads. Let them know you are praying for them, and invite them to share prayer needs with you. Pray that their hearts will be turned to Christ and their leadership will be based on His guidance.

4. Sponsor a child in another country. World Vision and Compassion International offer great programs to enlist people to pray for and correspond with a sponsored child. Not only can you provide for financial needs, you can also pray regularly for the child’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs.

5. Start prayer walking in your neighborhood. Prayer walking is “praying on site with insight.” As a family, take a walk around your neighborhood and pray for your neighbors. Teach your children to look for and pay attention to the needs they might see as they walk and pray—with eyes open!

6. Cover schools in prayer. Pray for each school attended by one of your family members. Pray by name for administrators, school board members, teachers, janitors, etc. Encourage your children to learn the names of these leaders and to greet them appropriately.

7. Look for prayer assignments. Prayer assignments are people God puts into your path each day. It might be a server at your local fast-food place or the checker at your grocery store. Teach your children to pay attention to people and recognize that everyone needs prayer.

The entire world, as well as the people surrounding you in your neighborhood, can be your mission field through your prayers. Even as you look into the sky, you can pray for astronauts in the space station, asking God to reveal Himself as they study His universe. The possibilities are endless!