As I heard the prayer letter being read I realized that I was hearing but not really listening. Conviction set in over how often we hear prayer letters as part of our services and they are little more than words to us.
How would our lives and those of our missionaries change if we were to celebrate the prayer letters we receive? Remember:

I. Their Wins Are Our Wins
The commandment to go into all the world and preach the Gospel is not “their” commandment, it is “our” commandment. Their ministry and our ministry are permanently connected.
When we support world missions their treasures in part are our treasures. When I was a pastor we had a missionary come to our church who was doing incredible things for the Lord. We decided to take him on for support not because he needed the funds, but because we wanted our church to have a part in the treasure he was laying up.
Selfish? Not really, isn’t that what God told us to do?

II. Their Struggles Are Our Struggles
If we believe the Bible is true, we are a family, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. When one member of the family is struggling, we are all less than we could be.
A prayer letter may be an opportunity to minister to our family. We may be moved to prayer for a specific struggle.
We may read about the struggle and be moved to help by the spiritual or material gifts that God has blessed us with.
Answers to those prayers in the next prayer letter will encourage and strengthen our faith along with theirs!

III. Their Fruit Is Our Future
Hearing of someone’s salvation in a prayer letter should make us jump up and down because our team just got stronger!
As they become pastors, helpers, and missionaries, the heavy command to go into all the world, just got a little lighter.
And then there is eternity! “Thank You for Giving to the Lord,” will one day be much more than a song to us. Our prayers, our gifts, our sacrifices will bring joy beyond our imagination when our faith is made sight.
What are some ways you can do more than just read a prayer letter?

By Mike Duff