God_Grants_One_to_Help_Another_by_Prayer.pdf

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.—1 Corinthians 1:11

God grants blessings, and some of these blessings he grants in response to prayers that he puts on the hearts of many. Many of you recently prayed for Bryan DeWire and me who traveled to the Middle East.

We just returned to Minnesota from a land of sultans, men of unusual wealth who do things like build the world’s tallest towers-to be named after themselves.

In contrast, one extremely wealthy king in the Middle East, upon the completion of the construction of a very large and ornate edifice, prayed like this:

If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people [Israel], each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.—1 Kings 8:37–40

Many of you prayed for our recent trip to the desert land of the Middle East where God is quenching the thirst of those who come to his Son in faith.

Please keep praying.

Pray that even the highest members of the royal family would be granted wisdom and faith to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Pray that the 200 books we ferried and gave away would have the lasting effect of honoring God, strengthening the Church, and shining light.

Pray that global partners pouring out their lives there would be encouraged by our visit, sustained by God, and given fruit that would remain.

Ask God for the non-Christian authorities to grant favor to the Christian workers who strive to cooperate with the government without compromising the gospel.

Ask God to sustain the Christian workers.

Ask God to provide for the workers. The house rent for one of the workers we met there is approximately $80,000 per year. Yes—four zeroes. Rent. And it is costly to ship books there, which leads to the next prayer request.

Pray for Operation Mobilization’s Logos Hope ship that is currently docked in that region.

Pray that God would raise up an indigenous pastor for the people in the region we visited. While many expatriates there worship Jesus, having come from many lands to take jobs in the Middle East (Christians from Korea, Pakistan, Australia, Holland, Sri Lanka, India, France, South Africa, and from many other countries), all of them could be asked to leave the country at any time. That would leave no indigenous leadership for the church.

Pray that encouraging emails (like the following) that we started receiving within 24 hours of returning to Minnesota would be the tip of the desert iceberg:

• We praise the Lord for the work He had done through you on this trip. I have had many conversations with members from our church from members of [name of church deleted] who are so grateful for your ministry to us, your interest in the Middle East and your partnership in the gospel.—E.N.
• Thank you again for coming and please thank Sam for his teaching. It was a great reminder of why we are here and was an encouragement.—A.E.
• What a joy to have you with us. From now on my concern is not to get programs running but to check if the objectives are being achieved. You have touched lives. You will realize the impact more yonder.—I.O.
• Thank you for the time that you spent with us as elders of the fellowship that meets in [name of place deleted]. It was a very beneficial time for us. Thank you for your input and encouragement. We value what you shared with us and are already acting upon some things. We appreciate the time that you spent travelling to share with us (and others, of course) and please pass on to the church and your families that we appreciate them lending you to us for a short time.—P.M.

Why pray? So that many will give thanks for the blessing granted.

Praying with you,

Pastor Sam