young woman praying at home | Wycliffe Associates | Advancing Bible Translation

“Let me tell you a story!” Aren’t these wonderful words? We all love to hear a good story. We love to read good stories, also!

Our women’s Bible study group is reading the book of Genesis. We are finding that it is full of stories that make a fascinating read. Many times, the book of Luke is the first book translated into languages without any Scripture. Luke tells the wonderful story of Jesus’s life and ministry. But, there is more—there is teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so a new follower of Jesus begins to understand what it means to have Christ in their life.

And there is still more—when a New Testament translation is completed, then uploaded to the cloud, and printed—there is growth in faith and a passion to share the Word of God with family, friends, and community. And through the knowledge gained by reading Scripture, these believers realize that God is equipping them to serve Him. Just think about these two verses.

All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching,
rebuking,
correcting
and training in righteousness,  
so that the servant of God
may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NIV)

The verses in 2 Timothy are especially meaningful to me because I realize that God has a purpose for everyone, even me! Every time I hear of another Bible Dedication taking place, I realize that God is equipping even more believers for service to Him through good works like sharing Scripture with neighbors and friends.

My dear prayer partners, it is so important that completed translations be uploaded to the cloud, made into a format for printing, and for creating recordings for oral cultures. Let’s pray for Bible translation projects around the world––especially in countries where Christians are persecuted. You see dear friends, persecuted believers need God’s Word to build up their faith in God’s love to withstand terrible persecution. They plead for us to help them get Bibles to their people. So, let’s pray together:

  • Our dear heavenly Father, it is with Your mercy and love that “all Scripture is God-breathed” telling the story of the sacrifice of Your only Son to pay for sin. And learning of Jesus’s resurrection shows Your children Your power. We pray that believers around the world will read the Scriptures to learn that Your power is available to all who turn to Him.

  • Lord, please help the teachers and preachers use Scripture in their heart language for teaching and preaching to the families in the church.

  • Heavenly Father, Your Word has many passages about the ugliness of sin and it rebukes Your children when they choose to follow the wrong way and do sinful deeds. Dear Jesus, you tell specifically what the wrong way is to live. So, please bless all who choose to live for you.

  • Lord you correct Your children and show them the better life by living for You. Lord we pray they will learn these things by reading and memorizing Your words in their heart language.

  • Oh, God, You train all Your children in righteousness when they spend time studying Your Word. So, we pray that more and more completed translations will be printed and put in the hands of believers, wherever in the world they are.

  • Dear Jesus, we pray that these believers become servants of God, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

  • Thank you, Heavenly Father, for Scripture in our language as we read, learn, and choose to follow you, every day. Through our prayers, may we be a blessing to the believers who now have Your Word in their language. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen.

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