Model Prayers For World Christians

These are some of my favorite mission oriented prayers for "world Christians."They are prayers for God's kingdom work to be accomplished. These prayers are taken from the Bible, the early church, missionaries, and the Book of Common Prayer:

Also when a foreigner who is not of Thy people Israel but comes from a distant country because of Thy great name and Thy strong hand and Thine outstretched arm, who shall come and pray toward this house, hear Thou from heaven, Thy dwelling place, and do Thou according to all which the stranger shall request of Thee, so that all people of the earth may know Thy name and revere Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may realize that this house which I have built is called by Thy name. --II Chronicles 6:32-33 (Solomon's prayer, The Modern Language Bible: The New Berkeley Version)

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.--Psalm 18:49 (David's prayer, KJV)

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. --Psalm 22:27 (David's prayer, NASB)

May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you , O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.--Psalm 67:2-5 (New Living Translation)

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. -- Isaiah 6;8 (Isaiah's response to God, KJV)

Now, Master, thou canst let thy servant go, and go in peace, as thou didst promise; for mine eyes have seen thy saving power, which thou hast prepared for all peoples, to be a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and a glory to thy people Israel. --Luke 2:29-32 (Simeon's prayer, The Moffatt Bible)

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee they only true God, as Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do... As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me... And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. -- portions of Jesus' prayer to His Father taken from John 17 (KJV)

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. --Ephesians 3:20-21 (Paul's prayer, NASB)

Remember, O Lord, all who in heathen lands are under instruction for Holy Baptism; have mercy upon them and confirm them in the faith; remove all the remains of idolatry and superstition from their hearts, that being devoted to Thy law, Thy precepts, Thy fear, Thy truths, and Thy commandments, they may grow to a firm knowledge of the word in which they have been instructed, and may be found worthy to be made an habitation of the Holy Ghost, by the laver of regeneration, for the remission of their sins through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--St. Basil the Great (ca. 329-379)

Remember, O Lord, this city wherein we dwell and every other city and country, and all the faithful who dwell in them. Remember, O Lord, all who travel by land or water, all that labor under sickness or slavery; remember them for health and safety. Remember, O Lord, those in Thy Holy Church who bring forth good fruit, are rich in good works and forget not the poor. Grant unto us all Thy mercy and loving-kindness, and grant that we may with one mouth and one heart praise and glorify Thy great and glorious name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, now, henceforth, and forever. Amen. --St John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407)

O Lord, our Savior, who hast warned us that thou wilt require much of those to whom much is given; grant that we whose lot is cast in so goodly a heritage may strive together the more abundantly to extend to others what we so richly enjoy; and as we have entered into the labours of other men so to labour that in their turn other men may enter into ours, to the fulfillment of Thy holy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. --St Augustine of Hippo (ca. 354-430)

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light, look favourably on Thy whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; and by the tranquil operation of Thy perpetual providence, carry out the work of man's salvation; let the whole world feel and see that things that were cast down are being raised up, that those which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are returning to perfection; through Him from Whom they took their origin, even Jesus Christ Thy son our Lord. Amen. --Gelasian Sacramentary, Fifth Century.

In evening prayer God was pleased to draw near my soul, though very sinful and unworthy: was enabled to wrestle with God, and persevere in my requests for grace. I poured out my soul for all the world, friends, and enemies. My soul was concerned, not so much for souls as such, but rather for Christ's kingdom, that it might appear in the world, that God might be known to be God in the whole earth...Let the truth of God appear, wherever it is; and God have the glory for ever. Amen. --David Brainerd (1718-1747, from his diary, he was a missionary to the Delaware and the Seneca Indians of New Jersey and New York)

O Lord our God, arise,
The cause of truth maintain;
And wide o'er all the peopled earth
Extend her blessed reign.
--The hymn sung frequently at worship by missionaries William Carey and Joshua Marshman in India, after the death of their associate William Ward in 1823.

Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil, and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice among men and nations. --A Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, American Revision, 1928

Regarding the Lord's Prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4, Georg F. Vicedom has said, "One cannot pray the Lord's Prayer without having a world map before his eyes."