A Sign of God's Will

As Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), prepared his address for the 2011 convention in Phoenix, he was moved to challenge the messengers to accept the task of embracing the unengaged unreached people groups (UUPGs).  Knowing that the International Mission Board (IMB) would have to support such an effort, he phoned Tom Elliff, the newly elected IMB president.  When Wright explained what the Lord had put on his heart, there was a momentary silence on the line.  Then Elliff responded, "The Lord has been telling me the same thing."

This testimony, that I heard at the Embrace Conference in Cedar Hill, Texas, is significant to me as a sign that this movement for churches to become the missionaries to the unengaged unreached people groups is God's will.  Why is that so?  Do you recall the verse where Jesus says that if two of His followers would agree on anything they pray for that He would do it (Matthew 18:19)?  For years I struggled to understand that promise.  I saw people asking others to join them in praying for something, but usually they did not get what they prayed for.  Also, I could see that taking the verse in the usual way (get another person to join you in praying so that you will get what you ask) could be a way for us to obligate or control God, something I knew was impossible.  Then one day the Holy Spirit gave me an insight--when two people are independently led by the Spirit to pray for the same thing, their prayer will be answered because it is God's will, not their own.  That both Bryant Wright and Tom Elliff were led to the same vision independently of each other is an indication that the idea is God's and not theirs.

S. D. Gordon has written that prayer is not man's way for getting his will done in heaven, but God's way for getting His will done on earth.  Jesus taught us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  The Bible tells us that praying according to God's will is essential to having our prayers answered (1 John 5:14-15).  When we see that something is God's will, we should take that as our cue to pray for its complete fulfillment like Daniel did when he understood Jeremiah's prophecy about the seventy years of exile (chapter nine of Daniel).  There are many forces resisting God's will.  God has given us the privilege of participating in achieving His purposes by both prayer and work to overcome all resistance.

As I have shared the challenge of churches' taking the gospel to UUPGs, I have seen several people whose hearts immediately received confirmation by the Holy Spirit that this work is of God.  If you are reading this blog, your interest is an indication that the Spirit is working in your heart, too.  I am writing this blog because I sense that God is leading us in this effort.  Seeing that this movement is of God, let us pray earnestly, fervently, and persistently until we see God's work completed.  Let us also pray for God's direction in what He wants us to do in addition to praying.