There are about 7.6 billion people on earth. Roughly 25% of those people are what we would call Frontier Peoples. Among Frontier People Groups there are no known Gospel movements and statistics show that there are less than 0.1% of Christians of any kind.
I’m going to focus on one of these people groups each week for the next 31 weeks using the Pray for the 31 Prayer Guide from the Joshua Project. I’d like to issue a challenge to all Christians to pray diligently for people around the globe that do not know Jesus within these Frontier People Groups.
Half of the population of all Frontier Peoples are represented in these 31 groups that we will feature over the next 31 weeks. I would encourage you to add this to your personal prayers, family devotions, and even church services. These prayers are crucial because Gospel movements are needed to make a significant impact in these largely hostile environments and because only a tiny fraction of missions giving and focus is pointed to these areas.
Most missions work and giving is focused on strengthening Christians where a Gospel movement is already present, and this is appropriate and needed. However, these frontier peoples are closed off and hostile to missions work for the most part. We are reliant upon God moving in a great way to open doors for missions work to begin or for a move of the Holy Spirit to bubble up from within the people from the small percentage of existing believers. This means that prayer is our most powerful tool.
Ways To Pray
I want you to fall in love with these people and be deeply burdened for their souls as image-bearers of our God. You can pray for Gospel Movements among believers like what we saw in the book of Acts. Visit MultMove.net to learn about the more than 650 multiplying movements that are being tracked and have produced 50 million new disciples in more than 2 million rapidly multiplying new churches.
You can pray for Bible translation efforts among these frontier groups. There is lots of information and resources on this area at SeedCompany.com. Pray for God’s Word to reach every people group in their own heart language. Pray for it to spread rapidly and be honored, and pray that those who receive it would love Jesus and base their lives on his Word, being obedient doers of the word and not hearers only.
Finally, don’t just pray once and be done. Continually keep these people and other unreached peoples in your heart. Don’t let them be forgotten in your church, or in your family. As you look at the multitudes of ways that God has blessed you, let that take your heart and mind to those that need the greatest of all blessings, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for the local governments to become less hostile to Christianity and Christians, pray for leaders to emerge, pray for missionaries to be sent into the harvest field in due time.
If you want to see Jesus return to complete the redemption of all things, these prayers and actions are helping to fulfill the mission of the kingdom. As Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Come quickly Lord Jesus.