By J. N. Anderson, Superintendent of S. D. A. China Mission
JESUS taught His disciples, and thru them all of His followers, that prayer on their part was the one great lever of missionary activity and success. Just before sending out the "twelve" on their first missionary tour, He bids them behold the magnitude of the harvest, and then urges upon them to give themselves to prayer—"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest." They were not told to inaugurate a missionary movement or campaign, nor even to plan for a full treasury. The word was, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest." Such prayer first prepares the suppliant himself for acceptable and efficient service, and secondly it brings direct answer from the Lord of the harvest in the increased number of workers. It leads us farther and farther into the comforting thought that this work is under the Lord's special care, and that He would have us make our appeal to Him. Too, it lifts the burden of the work onto Him who is mighty, placing us in the position of trustful and hopeful colaborers.
The church of the apostles never failed to make prayer the motive power in all their missionary work. At the very beginning of that great world-wide missionary movement, as the little band of followers stood waiting for the gift of the Spirit to qualify them for the work, the record reads, "These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer." Herein lies the secret of the unparalleled triumph of the early church.
Paul, the greatest missionary of all times next to Christ, began his long, eventful missionary career in the power of prayer ("He prayeth"); and the church that confirmed his call and sent him forth did so under the influence of the Spirit and prayer. See Acts 13:2, 3. He made prayer—his own and the intercession of his churches—his refuge, his inspiration, his weapon of attack. "Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." "Ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication." Thus would he have the Roman and Corinthian Christians aid him by their intercession for missionary success. To the Ephesian church he writes, "With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the spirit . . . and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel." And to the same end he exhorts the Colossians, "Withal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds." Thus we see that the great apostle to the Gentiles ever sought to make his converts true missionaries by laying upon them the burden of prayer for missionary success. It brought life to the churches and carried the message of salvation to the world in that generation. Nor has any religious movement since that time ever been successfully inaugurated and carried forward apart from the power and spirit of prayer.
“He prayed more earnestly.” Luke 22:44.
The church may well rejoice in her increase of tithes for larger work in the home field, in multiplied gifts and offerings to the missionary campaign in the regions beyond; she may indeed feel a certain pride in, and look with large hopes to, the mustering army of strong, enthusiastic young people; it is but right that she recount in a spirit of gratitude and hope the many cheering triumphs already granted her in the darkened lands of heathenism; but even all this will not suffice to give her final success in carrying the message of the coming kingdom to all nations in this generation. The people of God must stake the whole issue on the Lord of the harvest, they must be the watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem who shall never "hold their peace day nor night." Missionary activity and faithfulness in the field are but the reflection of the spirit of intercession and zeal dominating the home church. Confidence and hope must not be placed in mere men and means; both the authority and power are of the "Lord of the harvest."
Brethren, all ye who believe in the final triumph of the crucified One, we who are on the frontiers as your representatives, are deeply grateful for your loyal and generous financial support, for the lively and hopeful interest you have in all that pertains to the success of the work in these dark lands, for the sincere sympathy and fellow-feeling you extend us, but, with the apostle Paul, we need beyond all these "that ye strive together" with us in your prayers to God. Pray earnestly that the Lord of the harvest send forth more laborers into the great unentered fields. Be unwearied in your intercession for those who have already gone forth that they may open their mouths in boldness and in faithfulness, that they be not wearied with the hardships, or discouraged in their oft long waiting for fruit. Pray that the Christian graces, patience, tenderness, meekness, humility, self-forgetfulness, and true love, abound in the lives of all who endeavor to preach Christ and His message to the poor heathen who sit complacently in error and sin. And, once more, do not fail to pray for the native Christians that they may in truth know the power of the Gospel to set them entirely free from all the sins of their past lives, and that they may become faithful witnesses of this great salvation. And let us all pray and labor that God's message of redemption may speedily go to all nations and that "He whose right it is" may return in power and glory to reign forever.
