Missionaries leave everything familiar to carry the gospel to the hardest places on earth. And while most of us will never join them on the ground, we can join them in the most powerful way possible: through prayer. Intercession is not a consolation prize for those who stay home. It’s the engine that powers the mission.
Jesus Told Us to Pray for This
Before Jesus told us to go, He told us to pray. The Great Commission is preceded by a lesser-known but equally vital command:
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Jesus didn’t say “recruit more workers.” He said “ask the Lord.” The mission begins with prayer. Every missionary who has ever stepped onto foreign soil was sent—at least in part—by someone who prayed.
What Missionaries Actually Need Prayer For
Most people pray vague prayers for missionaries: “Bless them, Lord. Keep them safe.” Those prayers matter, but missionaries need far more specific intercession. Here’s what they rarely ask for but desperately need:
- Language learning—many spend years mastering a new language and the frustration can be crushing.
- Loneliness—they’re often far from family, friends, and familiar culture for years at a time.
- Team unity—conflict among missionary teams is one of the leading causes of people leaving the field.
- Spiritual attack—those advancing the gospel into unreached territory often face intense spiritual warfare.
- Their children—missionary kids navigate unique challenges of identity, belonging, and constant transition.
- Discouragement—years of work may produce little visible fruit, and the temptation to quit is real.
- Physical health—tropical diseases, limited medical care, and exhaustion are constant companions.
How to Pray for the Unreached
Praying for unreached people groups can feel abstract—how do you pray for people you’ve never met in places you’ve never been? Here’s a framework that makes your prayers specific and powerful:
- Pray for access—that closed countries would open doors and that creative pathways would emerge for the gospel to enter.
- Pray for dreams and visions—many people in unreached areas report encountering Jesus in dreams before ever meeting a believer.
- Pray for Bible translation—thousands of languages still lack a single verse of Scripture in their mother tongue.
- Pray for the first believers—the first converts in an unreached group often face persecution, rejection, and isolation.
- Pray for indigenous leaders—the goal of missions is not permanent foreign presence but empowered local churches.
Make It a Habit
Praying for missionaries and the unreached shouldn’t be a one-time event—it should be a rhythm. Consider adopting a missionary or unreached people group and committing to pray for them regularly. Many mission organizations provide prayer calendars, email updates, and specific requests that keep your prayers informed and targeted.
You might also dedicate one day per week to global prayer. Every Sunday, for example, you could spend five minutes praying for the nations—that the gospel would advance, that workers would be sent, and that the unreached would hear the name of Jesus for the first time.
Intercessory Prayer for Beginners
Learn the foundations of praying for others with purpose and power.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne.”
This is where it’s all heading. Every nation, tribe, people, and language—gathered before God’s throne. Your prayers are helping write that story. Every time you intercede for the unreached, you’re participating in the most important mission in human history.
Action step: Choose one unreached people group or one missionary family this week. Learn their name, their context, and their needs. Commit to praying for them by name every day for one month.