Originally written by Betty Byrd
The Wall of Unreached Peoples is always a reminder to me of how great is the task yet remaining on behalf of those who do not know that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of their souls. Each time I see the Wall’s panels, listing almost 7,000 unreached people groups, displayed at a convention, I am prompted to make it a personal goal to pray through all of those groups before the convention ends. The most recent North American Christian Convention was no exception.
It seems I always start out slowly, taking time to think carefully about the groups with which I am familiar and the harvest workers whom I might know serving among that particular group. Evidently I didn’t sign up for enough prayer slots during a couple of days of the convention because on the final morning, when I reported to the Wall for “prayer duty” I realized that there were several panels yet to be prayed through. What to do? In order to complete the goal I had set for prayer, I would have to miss the final session of the convention. What a decision, knowing I would miss speakers like Lee Strobel and Alan Robertson (yes, I confess that, for a season of my life, I was a “Duck Dynasty” fan)!
Knowing that prayer is the crucial strategy in reaching the unreached, I decided to stay at the Wall. So glad I did! My prayers for each group became more concentrated and focused. Some you might call “breath prayers” as I was barely taking a breath between groups. J I asked God to break the strongholds of Islam over the Muslim groups and allow Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists to know the One True Living God and Jesus, His Son, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I asked that the deaf might “hear” the Word of God and might know the Word Who became flesh and dwelt among men. I prayed for those who were clinging to ethnic religions, asking that they might forsake the traditions of their ancestors and their bondage to sinful ways, replacing that bondage with freedom through Christ Jesus, the Redeemer.
And, wouldn’t you know, it? As I was praying, I believe satan tried to discourage me, putting in the thought in my mind that I was praying some of the prayers over and over. Was I praying repetitious prayers with no meaning? It didn’t feel like it. In fact, the passion and fervency to intercede on behalf of the unreached actually increased rather than decreased.
Then God sent encouragement my way. Was she an angel? Well, she had a real name, and she told me she had a job just a few blocks away from the convention center. She had come to volunteer at the Wall, and she approached me to ask a question. Our conversation continued, and she told me about the Buddhist Kalmyk people in Russia. She and a group of others from Indianapolis had recently returned from a prayer journey there.
Beth shared with me an answer to the prayers that had been prayed on behalf of the Kalmyk people. During the recent visit, a Kalmyk man told the group how he became a believer in Jesus. “One night,” he said, “Jesus appeared to me and said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’”
Those words struck such a chord with me! How many times had I prayed that Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs would know this? Thank You, God, for confirmation that once again that You hear and answer prayers on behalf of the unreached so that they may be saved. Thank You for the re-assurance that we need to pray these prayers over and over and over……until, in fact, the whole world knows.
