How to Pray for your Upcoming Missions Trip?

You are well on your way to taking part in your upcoming Short-Term Missions trip.

You know where you’re going
You’ve created communication tools
You’re aware of possible pitfalls and
You know how to publicly thank your financial partners

One of the next things you need to focus on is preparing yourself spiritually for your time away. You can begin, now, to build habits that no one will see but which could have a huge impact on you when you arrive on location.

God is inviting you to Prepare through Prayer!
Today, I’m going to give you a few tips on how to pray for your upcoming STM trip.

5 ways to Prepare through Prayer

Pray for yourself: First and foremost, you need to pray for God to prepare you…
1. Prepare you to LEARN (from your hosts and from Him)
2. Prepare you for the UNEXPECTED (note: the unexpected WILL occur)
3. Prepare you to GIVE (pray that He’ll give you words to say, a testimony to give, a right attitude in giving, insight when praying for others or when teaching, sensitivity to His Spirit)
Pray for the country/area He’s called you to: Be aware of what is happening politically and socially in that country. Don’t think that your prayers will be of little impact… prayers are never lost. In fact, sometimes your prayers can be especially valuable because you are coming from OUTSIDE the spiritual atmosphere that can be a source of discouragement to locals who can be spiritually drained / numbed by constant exposure to it. You arrive with “fresh faith”.
Pray for the missionaries with whom you’ll be working:
1. Become familiar with any regular communication that they produce
  1. Newsletters… beyond the recent ones, try to get archived copies that will help you understand the history of their work in that area.
  2. Blog… Do they have one? Subscribe to get regular updates.
  3. Social Media… Follow them. Often times photos of baptisms, Bible School graduations, Home Bible Studies, etc. are made available on social media before making it to a newsletter… You’ll get more updates in real time.
2. Pray for their families… whether serving on the field with them or whether back home… what happens to a missionary’s family can be a “weak spot” if all is not well on their homefront.
Pray for the specific projects with which you’ll be involved: Are you going to…
1. … take part in special meetings? Pray for all aspects of those meetings (and see #1).
2. … take part in a medical / mercy project? Pray that through those open doors, God uses you to share the gospel with someone.
3. … teach in a Bible School / Disipleship Training program? Pray that God gives you insight & revelation into His word and that He helps you transmit it to participants.
Pray …
1. for discernment: Your short term missions trip may just be a one-time thing or it may be God opening a door and easing you gradually into a broader calling to missions. Be sensitive to his leading to help you discern which is which; each is perfect, if it’s his perfect will.
2. for your family: If you’re traveling alone, your family back home may be experiencing anxiety about your actual travel, but they could also be wondering what God has in store for your future and the thought of you spending a “lifetime” away from them will be something for them to work through (they need discernment just as much as you do). If, however, you’re travelling as a family, you need to be very aware of how your spouse and children are holding up through the process. This scenario has its particular challenges and you all need the hand of the Lord if it’s to be a positive experience for everyone.
3. for an open mind: When you get out of your comfort zone and familiar surroundings, there is a natural tendency to be just a bit more sensitive to and reliant on God, rather than relying on all which is familiar. Who knows what the Lord will do in and through you … if you will be like Samuel; “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

A Starting Point

These five points are, of course just a suggested starting point. The Lord may lead you to branch out from there to pray for some very specific things or your sending organization may even have pre-made prayer guides for STMers in general or for certain countries / regions in particular. The important thing is… Pray!