By Andrew Wheeler
We know the end of the age will be ushered in by the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world. And we know that proclamation will get results! Jesus tells us, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).
Scripture also says that every nation, tribe, people, and language will one day stand before the throne and worship Jesus (Rev. 5:9). For this reason, we ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to that day when the new heaven and new earth will become reality (2 Peter 3:11–12).
In Jesus’ day, the harvest was plentiful. He encouraged prayer to that end: “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Matt. 9:37–38). Just as it was then, the harvest is plentiful now—and God asks us to pray the harvest in. He invites us to pray that people will be raised up to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Unreached Parts of the Earth
A major emphasis in missions has developed around the Unreached Peoples. Reaching the Unreached means completing the Great Commission. Several websites can help focus prayer on the areas of the world least penetrated by the gospel.
The Joshua Project probably the most comprehensive site related to the Unreached Peoples, includes demographic information about the 6,900-plus Unreached People Groups (UPGs). It allows visitors to research by region, ethnicity, religion, and level of gospel penetration.
The site also features a listing of global hotspots—countries and issues in the news—with prayer suggestions for each. At this writing the featured hotspots and issues include Iraq/Syria, Ukraine, Boko Haram, and the Ebola crisis. The site provides several resources to equip visitors to pray for the Unreached. UPG prayer calendars, prayer cards, prayer guides, and videos encourage and inform prayer. It features one UPG each day with prayer ideas for that group. The material is also available as a daily email or a mobile app.
The Global Prayer Digest is a daily online prayer devotional from the U.S. Center for World Mission, also available as an email or in printed format. Arranged around a monthly topic, the Global Prayer Digest (GPD) features a brief Scripture each day, an engaging anecdote from a UPG, and prayer items. Recent monthly topics have included world-class cities, Tibetan Buddhists, and Hindi-speakers—the largest UPG in Southeast Asia.
Light the Window seeks to mobilize at least ten million believers to pray daily, through the year 2020, for the Unreached Peoples in the 10/40 Window. The site includes an annual prayer calendar that divides the Window into 12 areas and 365 large UPGs. In addition to the downloadable annual calendar and poster of the 10/40 Window, the site features daily prayer points for the people group of the day.
Window International Network offers a more comprehensive site devoted to the 10/40 Window. This site offers multiple resources for prayer, including prayer calendars, country profiles, a monthly prayer newsletter, an annual prayer initiative called Praying Through the Window, and prayer alerts focused on current events in the Window. Visitors can subscribe to an email newsletter with prayer updates.
The International Mission Board, a ministry of the Southern Baptist Church, maintains a comprehensive site covering the missions of the SBC. The PRAYERthreads page (available under the PRAY tab) features multiple resources to facilitate prayer for the Unreached. It includes a 30-day prayer guide and a journal to help visitors pray for a specific people group. It also offers a two-page summary of prayer ideas for the Unreached and some helps for choosing a UPG for individual or group prayer focus. These resources are downloadable in PDF format.
Whether God leads you to pray for specific people groups, for countries, for themes, or for a specific world religion, the web can be a great tool to inform and equip you to pray. Pray for the Unreached, and help pave the way for Jesus’ return!
ANDREW WHEELER co-directs the prayer ministry of Willow Creek’s regional campus in Crystal Lake, IL. His book Together in Prayer is available at prayershop.org.
