1 Samuel 7:5-8
5 Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” 6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah. 7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
Samuel’s prayer is a mission prayer. He’s praying for a people who have turned from God, maybe some or many who have never truly followed him before, but who have now discovered their need of him. He’s praying that God will forgive them and accept them. He’s praying that God will protect their fledgling faith and demonstrate his protection and power at this perilous moment when this new faith is first tested.
Take a while to pray for the people you know who don’t know God yet, that they might find and embrace him.
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