by Joy Grady

I have read many books about prayer. One of my favorites is Phillip Yancey's book Prayer. Today I am going to quote from it, because I think it is very helpful. 

"The act of prayer brings together Creator and creature, eternity and time, in all the fathomless mystery implied by that convergence. I can view prayer as a way of asking a timeless God to intervene more directly in our time-bound life on earth. (Indeed, I do so all the time, praying for the sick, for the victims of tragedy, for the safety of the persecuted church.) In a process I am only learning, I can also view prayer from the other side, as a way of entering into the rhythms of eternity and aligning myself with God's view from above, as way to harmonize my own desires with God's and then to help effect, while on earth what God has willed for all eternity. 

In prayer I ask for, and gradually gain, trust in God's love and justice and mercy and holiness, despite all that might call those traits into question. I immerse myself in the changeless qualities of God and then return to do my part in acting out those qualities on earth: 'Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'

So many times I turn to prayer feeling besieged. The news reminds me of poverty and injustice,, of human cruelty and terrorism and nuclear threats and a hundred things that foster anxiety. My distress spirals inward as I think of family, friends, and neighbors, so many of battling illness, divorce, financial burdens, children in trouble...............Go into your closet and shut the door, Jesus advised. I envision doing just that: entering a closet with my pressing time-bound burdens and asking God to renew, refresh, remind- in other words, to pour some eternity into me. I try to get my mind off myself to empty it."

Christianity has shown phenomenal growth in Southeast Asia in recent decades. Buddism is common in these countries, while Islam is predominant in Indonesia and Malaysia. Many people groups also practice ancestor worship and animism. Poverty is widespread. Some of the region's largest ethnic groups are unreached including the Burmese of Myanmar, the Vietnamese and the Thai.

*Pray for continued unity within church planting movement.

*Pray for Christian workers to overcome discouragement resulting from poverty and persecution.

*Pray for economic opportunities and support for Christian workers in impoverished and isolated areas.

*Pray for unreached people to see God answer their prayers which native workers say is a primary avenue of evangelism.*Pray for creative ways for indigenous Christians to show care for people's needs in unreached communities, such as starting schools, digging wells for clean water, or distributing food to the poor.