In the fifth session of the Conference for Pastors (live-streamed at desiringgod.org/live), we heard from Jerry Rankin on Unreached Peoples and the Power of Prayer.

(Notes from the session and audio for download are available. The video will be up shortly.)

Here are a few notable extracts:

• The massive number unreached people groups that have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ overwhelm our most visionary missions strategies. There are over 2000 unengaged people groups with no Scripture, no missionaries, and no believers. There are multiple obstacles in the way of us reaching these people including hostile wordviews, religious systems, and governments.
• For what reason should any people be deprived of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ when we have easily been given the resources to reach the World?
• Is it not God's will that they know of a Savior? God's will is for his name to be exalted among the nations and peoples of this world. If we don't take the gospel to the end of the earth, who will? No one else is responsible or accountable to accomplish this task.
• Could it be that Satan has duped us into a self-centered and provincial view of Christianity that has affected the way we pray? If we fail to lift up the nations of the world, praying for the missionary task to succeed around the world, the task will remain uncompleted. Satan knows that when the nations have been reached, then the end will come and his hold on the nations will come to a final end. It is Satan's desire to keep us from praying big prayers for the world.
• With faith we should lay hold of the promises of God and plead for the salvation of the unreached nations of the world.
• Psalm 37:4. What are the desires of you heart? The desire of our heart when we delight in the Lord is the Lord himself. We then desire the things God desires, and heart grows to reach the lost.
• God uses missionary prayer to break through to our hearts, so that we will go to the people in darkness. As we begin to pray for unreach people groups, our heart agrees with Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8.
• There is a growing number of young people rising up who are giving themselves to missions, not reluctantly because there is a great need. Rather, they are going because they are obsessed with the idea of the nations giving glory to God!
• May the reward and motivation for missions be God's glory!