Some even consider Latin America a region ‘reached’ with the gospel. That was the position of the First World Missionary Conference in Edinburg in 1910. But many who know the name of Jesus do not know why He came or what He offers to sinners in our broken world. 500 years ago, the Protestant Reformation took the Western world by storm but left Latin America basically untouched. This ‘reached’ land needs true gospel transformation as much as anywhere.
Here are ten prayer requests for the Latin American church. You may consider praying for one Latin American country each day: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela.
1. Pray for the true gospel to be known and believed throughout Latin America.
Many false gospels and gospel substitutes permeate faith in Latin America. Syncretism, the worship of Mary (due to major Catholic influence), and the prosperity ‘gospel’ hold millions captive in false systems of belief. Pray for the gospel of the risen Christ to be proclaimed, believed, and treasured.
2. Pray for more to hold to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.
Many outright reject the Reformation doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Catholics, for example, claim tradition and the Magistrate function as authority in addition to Scripture. Others functionally reject Scripture’s authority by placing personal experience at the same level of Scripture. Pray for more brothers and sisters in Latin America to look to Scripture alone as the authority and worship God for the sufficiency of His Word.
3. Pray for the prosperity gospel’s counterfeit promises to be exposed.
The prosperity gospel’s rampant influence in Latin America decimates churches and leads adherents—often the poor and needy—astray. Pray for prominent prosperity preachers to repent of their ways. Pray for the deceitfulness of the prosperity gospel to be exposed and for the true gospel to heal wounded hearts. Pray for the unsearchable riches of Christ to lay bare the fraudulent promises of prosperity theology.
4. Pray for a deepened understanding of Scripture among leaders and believers.
Latin America’s historical roots in Catholicism means many respect the Bible even if they don’t know its message or how to read it. The church in Latin America (and all the world) needs to be biblically literate to address doctrinal attacks on the church from the culture and within.
Pray for a deepened understanding of the Bible and the grand story of Scripture (Biblical Theology) that will help individuals and churches live out a Biblical worldview and more faithfully engage the world around them.
5. Pray for expositional preaching to become the preferred preaching style.
Expositional preaching gives God’s Word functional authority in the church. Topical preaching largely depends on the abilities and knowledge of the preacher, risking legalism, shallow and repetitive messages, and not proclaiming the full counsel of God. Whether they know it or not, believers hunger for the Word of God.
Pray for faithful, Christ-centered expository preaching to grow in prominence and strengthen the church as God designed.
6. Pray for online ministries to reach more people with sound doctrine.
Just like the Gutenberg Press helped propel the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s and beyond, internet ministries like The Gospel Coalition’s Spanish site are helping bring the Reformation to Latin America. Pray for God’s Spirit to move through online resources and rescue many from unbelief and false doctrines and ground them in sound doctrine.
7. Pray for more theologically-sound resources to strengthen the church.
Solid evangelical resources can be hard to come by in countries with a population of less than 4% evangelical. Pray for the expanded reach and influence of Christian publishers, radio ministries, and theologically-driven worship music. Pray for Latin American theologians to write sound theology to address contextual issues and strengthen the Latino church.
8. Pray for more trained gospel workers.
It is estimated that the United States has one trained Christian worker for every 235 people. Outside the USA, it is one trained worker per 450,000 people.1 Pray for more nationals to be trained to plant churches, pastor, and train other workers in both formal and non-formal settings.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
9. Pray for the unique challenges the churches in certain countries face.
10. Pray for missions organizations to make a lasting impact in the indigenous church.
Missionaries and their sending organizations have made great gospel advances in the last century. Pray for continued fruit in evangelism, church planting, and equipping national leaders in programs like WordPartners training. Pray for full funding for missionaries and organizations who have sacrificed much for the sake of Christ.
