Names Not Uttered
John and Marie* are church planters who work in one of the Kingdom-minded businesses we support in the 10/40 window. Due to security concerns, you may not know their faces, their exact location on the globe, or the specifics of their work. However, through this article, we hope you can clearly hear their voices, thank the Lord for this brother and sister in Christ, and pray with us.
To the Friends of Access Partners,
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
These words of encouragement from I Thessalonians 5: 16-18 are simple, yet difficult to fully comprehend. For the past few years, our Heavenly Father has been constantly refining me and my wife as we strive to walk in the joy of these verses. I say “joy” because that is what it is, an invitation to know His eternal blessings in all things, big and small.
When we pray without ceasing we are more aware of His work and glory all around. For example, as we sit here drinking freshly roasted cups of coffee, our hearts are overwhelmed with joy that we can come before the throne in thanksgiving for something seemingly small as a cup of coffee. But think about it—He is the one who allows it to have its specific tastes and smells and He is worthy to be praised because of it. The Creator gives us grace to see His sovereign hand in all things and praise Him. This is something we have been slow to learn and pray for grace to walk in more and more.
When we first arrived in [this country] seven months ago, we could not help but be excited. We had asked our family and friends back home to pray with us to be able to share the gospel to those He would be drawing to Himself. We anxiously waited for His perfect answer to our prayers through our interactions with people at work and at the store and on the street, trusting he would make us sensitive to the Spirit in His leading. Not many days after we had been here He gave us a peace that in a few months we would have names with which we could come before the throne. It was such an amazing thought that He would invite us to plead on behalf of those whose names likely had never been uttered to the Lord. At that time, we did not know which names they would be but we rejoiced in seeing that day.
A few weeks later we were at our place of work and a couple came in asking about our product and how they could buy it. That was the beginning of a now six month friendship! We know that He is kind to answer the prayers of many for their salvation and we praise God for the gift to share the truth of Christ with these friends. Through our job and our language study He has continued to give us other friends for whom we can pray. Please to pray with us for Samuel and Felicia, Tristan and Aubrey, and Oscar and Michelle. May He rescue them from the domain of darkness and transfer them into the kingdom of his beloved Son!
We praise God for the unity He gives us as believers when we join together in prayer for His purposes, most especially to intercede on behalf of the lost. We know that the times he gives us together, as believers united by his Spirit, is a taste of eternity. May what He is teaching us in the journey of prayer encourage you to continue running after Christ as you seek to rejoice always and pray without ceasing.
We praise God for you and ask that he may continue to teach us all the joy and power in prayer for the glory of His name and the growth of His kingdom.
John and Marie
* For their security, names have been changed.