Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

Shawn, pictured here in Turkey with his wife, Katrina, and two kids, Elsie and Jered, is the associate superintendent of Global Outreach and Pastoral Care.



I get asked a lot: “How can I pray for our Friends Serving Abroad?” I appreciate this concern because it comes from people who are convinced it matters. I’m not sure I know anything new about prayer, but I am convinced that it makes a difference. So why, as our focusing query suggests, should we pray “for those who are engaged in spreading the gospel?” Here are a few reasons.

1. Prayer is an act of service: I pray with two gentlemen regularly. We pray for our Friends Serving Abroad (FSA) and for our local churches and pastors. For these guys it is an important, concrete act that is one way they serve those in faraway places. Their sincerity has energized my own desire to pray.

Many of us have heard the great stories about people across the sea praying for a missionary just at the point they were spared from death. I believe those stories, but I believe even more that the constant prayers of the faithful are crucial acts of service by the pray-er. Like the four friends who lowered their crippled friend down in front of Jesus, those in ministry need those who will serve them in prayer.

2. Prayer is an act of partnership: These two men keep up-to-date on what each FSA is doing, the struggles they face, the people they work with, and even how old their kids are. I am often surprised by how well they know the situation of the people for whom they are praying.

I had the privilege the other day to visit the home church of one of our future English teachers. It was not a Friends church, so I got to introduce the program and invite the congregation to join in the work and ministry of this young teacher. They took that seriously. Several folks joined me on the platform during the service and prayed for me, for this teacher, and for the ministry.

3. Prayer is an act of transformation: God’s mission is to restore all creation to right relationships, which were undone by our desire to take the place of God. Prayer is an act that signals our submission and willingness to be changed. It is risky to pray because we simply won’t stay the same.

Our prayer, be it humble listening, intercession, lament, praise, or petition, is transformative. Our hearts are changed, attitudes are formed and reformed, futures are shaped in new directions. God moves in us and through us. From a posture of prayer comes the calling to join God in God’s mission. Inevitably our inward faith turns outward, sometimes all the way to another culture.

Queries: We’d love to hear your response below.

• What has been your growing edge with prayer?
• What examples of “prayer-as-partnership” have you experienced?