God's Heart For The Nations - November 27, 2015

35 Day Spiritual Adventure of Getting to Know and to Pray for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry and all the people groups in and around Northern Thailand. 

“Ask of Me, and I Will Surely Give You the Nations…..” Psalm 2:8

DAY 1 – November 27 – “God’s Heart For the Nations.”

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in my home country of the United States and a great time to reflect on the goodness of God and to thank Him for His provisions for our lives and in our ministry to some of the least reached in and around Northern Thailand. 

Today, as I write this first prayer update for this Season of Prayer, I am sitting in a school in a village way up in the mountains about a 3 hour drive from the city of Chiang Rai, Thailand where I live and serve the Lord. We have an awesome team from Gloucester Baptist Church in Australia that is here this week helping us share the message of Jesus with some of the least reached people in this part of God’s World. 

For the past couple of years we have chosen to ask you to join us in a Season Of Prayer for God’s Work here and we ask that you would join us each day and read out updates and join us in seeking the throne of God on our behalf. In each of these updates we will share with you some aspect of how God is using Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and its partners to engage some of the least reached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. We invite you to ask your friends and any small group you are a part of to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of the millions and millions of people who have never heard the message of Jesus.

"It all Begins With God And With God's Heart For The Nations." Day 1 – November 27, 2015

 

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we find a consistent thought pattern that communicates the message that God loves all of the peoples in every part of God’s world. We also find passages like Eccl 3:11 that says, “He (God) has set eternity in their hearts (hearts of humans everywhere)…” God truly has placed in the heart of every man, woman, and child, in every place on the earth a desire to know the true and living God. But not everyone in God’s world has heard this great message.

When we look very clearly in the original Greek at the great commission as seen in Matthew 28:19 we find that the great commission has a specific target audience that is on God’s heart and mind that need to be engaged, and specifically that is the “unreached people groups” of the world. Jesus said to go and make disciples of “all the nations.” All the nations is from the Greek “Panta Ta Ethne” and “ethne” is the Greek Word where we get our English word “ethnic” and for all practical purpose, what our Lord Jesus was saying was “Go and make disciples of all the unreached people groups (UPGs) of the world.” Jesus wasn’t thinking in terms of geo-political countries, no, He was thinking in terms of ethnic and linguistic people groups. You see, the great commission is all about God and His heart for the unreached peoples of the world.

My family has lived the last 16 years in the heart of Southeast Asia where millions of people have never heard the message of Jesus and have been trapped in thought patterns and ancient traditions that have kept them from the light of the gospel for thousands of years. There are over 70 different unreached people groups in the country of Thailand alone. Your heart and your prayers are needed. We are asking you to join us in seeking the mercy and grace of God to penetrate this darkness with the light and love of Jesus.

This SEASON OF PRAYER is really a 30+ day spiritual adventure of learning about and battling the forces of darkness – through informed and fervent praying - on behalf of all the peoples living in and around Northern Thailand including all the unreached people groups in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, and China. This SEASON OF PRAYER is a significant task we are asking you to do.

As we begin this 36 Day SEASON OF PRAYER for N.T.I.M (Northern Thailand Impact Ministry) and all of the peoples in and around Northern Thailand, we want to begin this spiritual journey by seeking the face of the Almighty God and asking Him to give us the Nations that are in and around Northern Thailand. The Psalmist wrote this, “Ask of Me, and I Will Surely Give You the Nations….” Psalm 2:8.

Prayer Example: “Oh, Heavenly Father. We know that You have set eternity in the hearts of the hundreds of unreached people groups living in and around Northern Thailand. We see on the map how Northern Thailand is strategically located to reach many other nations in that part of Your World. We pray and ask that You might be pleased to use NTIM and those who partner with NTIM to take the gospel and message of Jesus to the hundreds of Unreached People Groups living among them especially in this upcoming Christmas season. Help them to be your salt and your light and to begin breaking down the barriers of resistance that have kept them from opening their heart to our great Savior Jesus. We pray this in Jesus name and for the expansion of His Kingdom. Amen.”