A prayer for blessing that God will answer!

Psalm 67:1-2 says, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, THAT your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations."

Here is the deal. I'm headed to Georgetown University for a series of meetings with Key leaders globally about the upcoming issues globally between competing truth claims. I'm being very vague on purpose in case you are wondering for very important reasons, and if you are a TRCC regular you know why. Anyway, I digress...

There is really only one way to be a church doing it's biblical mandate and that is by engaging the globe personally by taking the Gospel to the unreached people groups of the world so that people can be saved and a self-sustaining and multiplying church made up of that people group and looking like that people group in cultural distinction but having the distinct characteristics of Jesus' kingdom imprinted on their new lives as a redeemed people of God now taking that message to the unreached peoples of the globe themselves.

A church doing local ministry only and throwing a small percentage of it's budget to a missions agency is not doing it's job. Then they have the audacity to ask God to bless them (however that gets interpreted).

This Psalm is basing it's request for blessing upon the already understood and mandated Abrahamic Covenant that they would be blessed (with the knowledge of God) to bless the nations (Genesis 12:1-3 "families" is the Hebrew of the word nations that means something along the lines of distinct ethno-linguistic peoples) with the knowledge of this God, who is Jesus.

In other words blessing does not exist for the sole purpose of growing a local church ministry. Blessing is that the church would then, by it's very nature and mission take that blessing to the nations that have not heard! The Great Commission is the restating of the Abrahamic Covenant! Jesus knew this. He did not make up a new thing. He was re-instituting (if I may use those words) what he already spoke to Abraham back in Genesis (Remember Jesus said he was YHWH in John 8).

So, don't ask for blessing unless you intend to fulfill your mission as followers of Jesus Christ to make disciples of the nations in blessing them with the blessing you have received from the Lord i.e. knowledge of the Gospel and resources to bring it to them.

Don't be satisfied with a ministry to local communities. That is not the end game. Our hearts were made to go global, and they have been shrunk and withered by a local only mentality.

I grow tired of having supposed pastors ask why we do what we do among the nations. I grow tired of pastors volunteering their words of defense that not everyone (i.e. pastors and churches) are called to do what we do. What bible are they reading? What part of it does not apply to them?

If one does not want to complete the Great Commission, then don't come after Jesus! Jesus said not to begin a work one is not willing to count the cost and assess if they are willing to finish the work. Don't come after Jesus in repentance unless you are willing to die among the nations for Jesus' fame having spent all of your resources to make it happen. That IS our mission.

If you pray for blessing to do that, you are guaranteed to get it because Jesus said if we ask for things in his name (things that represent his mission and reputation) he was pleased to do it! When we ask for blessing to be showered on us that we might turn and shower it on the UPG's of the planet, then we will get all we need to do the task! If we just want more crap, then we might get it, but know that what you get and attain and sit on is not from God, but a work of your hands and the desire of your heart and thus your object of worship.

Oh that we would be prayer warriors asking for blessing to be showered upon us that we might turn it to the praise of the nations to make much of Jesus, the King.

If you want to know about unreached people groups and the one's yet to be engaged go to http://joshuaproject.net/

Pick one and get started asking! We were made for this. We will either send by praying and resourcing or we will go short or long term or we will be disobedient.

Soli Deo Gloria among the nations!