In January of 2020, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will be offering a new resource to guide specific prayer toward lostness. The guide will provide an opportunity for North Carolina Baptists to unite for 30 days of prayer, focusing on specific people groups and pockets of lostness across North Carolina.

As God continues to bring the world to America, He also continues to open the eyes of believers and churches to see the unreached and least reached people across our state. Unreached people groups are people who share the same ethnicity and language and are less than 2% evangelical. Of the nearly 1.5 million foreign-born and their children who live in North Carolina, 165 unique people groups have been identified, most of whom have never heard the gospel.

Pockets of lostness are gospel deserts — small geographic areas with an unusually large percentage of lost people. In North Carolina, there are 250 pockets of lostness that have been identified where the general population is growing or changing faster than the church.

As God continues to bring the world to America, He also continues to open the eyes of believers and churches to see the unreached and least reached people across our state.

I find value in this resource for three reasons:

It lifts our eyes unto the harvest fields.
As you learn about and pray for the various people groups and pockets of lostness in North Carolina, our prayer is that you will open your eyes to the magnitude of the lostness that exists in your community, North Carolina and beyond.

It provides an opportunity for specific, united, biblical prayer.
Spiritual work requires spiritual power, and united biblical prayer always unleashes the power of Christ upon the growing lostness in our specific communities (Acts 4:23-33). Unbelievers are also convicted concerning their sin and become more receptive and open to their need for forgiveness and salvation in Jesus when God’s people faithfully intercede on their behalf.

It provides a challenge toward engagement.
When we as believers experience Christ in intimacy through prayer, we begin to desire more fully the things that He desires because of that intimacy. Thus, when we pray specifically toward lostness we will begin to desire to do more than just pray for lost people and pockets — we will also begin to have a desire to engage them with the good news of Jesus in word and deed.

Maybe the real need today is not just for more evangelistic activity. Maybe the real need today is for more intentional prayer and intimacy with Christ that will produce more heartfelt evangelism by believers among those who are lost. That is what this prayer guide is all about — praying together and going together. Thank you for uniting with others to seek Christ on behalf of lost people groups and pockets. Shall we pray and go?