Your prayers matter

I got an email the other day from Matt Crosland. Matt and his family are Wycliffe Missionaries in Papua New Guinea. In spite of the fact that he’s a Gamecock fan, Matt is a really cool guy with a neat family.

I am pretty sure it’s tough being missionaries in Papua New Guinea. Adventurous? Yes. Tough. You bet. While on the field this past year they’ve faced one challenge after another. Frankly, most of us would have packed up and gone home if we’d faced what they’ve faced. And then to top it all off, last week they found out they had been robbed. And then two days later they were robbed again.

There’s not much I can do sitting in my office thousands of miles away from the Crosland’s except to pray, so I shot Matt an email just to let him know of my prayers. He responded a day later with this: I can’t tell you how important it is for us to have people praying for us. We truly believe that it effects what happens here.

A lot of times we’re tempted to think that our prayers don’t matter. But they do. That’s why James, the brother of Jesus, writes: The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.

Your prayers matter. Make prayer a habit. I know that you have so much on your plate, but you’re not too busy to pray. Pray for Matt, Tiffany, and their 6 kids (with another on the way).  Pray for your church. Pray for your family. Pray often and about everything. Your prayers matter.