The PIT Crew Prayer Focus

How to Pray for Your Missionaries and Their Family

o For priorities: that their family would keep God first, marriage second, family third, and ministry fourth. Pray that they will not get #1 and #4 mixed up!

o For marriage: Satan is working hard to break apart their marriage. Pray for protection, good communication, healthy priorities, enduring love, and "date time"… Pray that they will live and work as best friends.

o For children: raising kids in a "fishbowl" can have its own challenges. Pray that the ministry would cause the children to love God--not resent Him. Pray that God would draw them with His love. Pray for fun, loving family times of laughter and building wonderful memories.

o For a ‘Team Spirit’ between husband and wife: pray that the pastor and his wife would work together to see Jesus lifted up, to see the Word taught, to see people grow in intimacy and obedience to God.

o For humility: that they would never become unconscious of the fact that pride is their greatest enemy… and humility their greatest friend (John Stott) – and that they would cultivate life-long habits of putting pride to death.

o For sexual purity: that they would be radical and uncompromising in their fight to stay sexually pure – not allowing even a ‘hint’ of sexual lust to make its home in their heart… to spot it early… and to deal with it severely.

o For grace growth! Cause them to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)

o For life-giving friendships: loneliness and discouragement / depression are two of the biggest struggles people in ministry face. Pray that they would have true friends whom they can trust with both everyday and extremely difficult things. Pray for mutual relationships which are life-giving. Pray for joy and laughter.

o For their own walk with God: that the demands of ministry would not damage their relationship with God, but that the ministry would flow out of their own relationship with God. That they would balance all of the expectations and pressures on them in the way the Lord would direct… that they would always remember that the ministry is God's… that they’re a ‘pipe’ and not the ‘pump.’

o For trusting God through the seasons of ministry: most ministry families go through phases of wonderful growth and tremendous encouragement--interspersed with dry times, painful times, stretching times, and overwhelming times of failure or attack.

o For faith and hope: Ministry can be overwhelming, as you are exposed to and aware of the ravages of sin at close range. It can be overwhelming and disheartening at times. Pray for faith to believe God, and hope in His Word, and to not lose heart.

o For insights into God’s Word: ignite their heart with the truth of Your Word this week. “Open their eyes that they may behold wonderful things from Your Word” (Psalm 119:18)

o For boldness: give them courage to “open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel” (Eph. 6:19) in preaching, teaching and counseling.

o For passion: cause them to desire You and thirst for You more than anything else. “As the deer pants for the water brooks” (Psa. 42:1) May their soul long for you, O God.

o For godly wisdom: give them godly wisdom for counseling and for leadership of our body. Give Your wisdom to them “liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5)

o For power to proclaim God’s Word: May the “…Word of the Lord… sound forth from them… in every place” (I Thes. 1:8). May the “Word of the Lord run and be glorified” (2 Thes. 3:1) this week in their preaching, teaching, counseling, and leadership.

o For anything else God lays on your heart: let God lead your faithful and loving prayer for the Crane's and their family.