How to pray for a nearly finished New Testament
The translation of Scripture is a demanding task and needs constant prayer support from start to finish. Translators have noticed, however, that special difficulties seem to surface when translations near completion. What follows is a sampling of such problems to help you in praying for those involved. Satan is opposed to all God's purposes and certainly the translating of God's Word, the Bible, is one activity he will do all in his power to frustrate. Some problems are due to human frailty and sinfulness. Some may be simply mechanical or electrical glitches. Some problems may be spiritual or have a spiritual component. Satan may be the cause or he may exploit these to gain his ends.
The list is not hypothetical. Every item mentioned has occurred to delay completion of some translation.
- Pray for the stamina and health of translators, co-translators, their families and their children.
- Pray that scheduling of furloughs, administrative duties, and other urgent tasks will not interfere.
- Pray that aging parents, education of children, and family duties not be neglected.
- Pray for translators having to leave the field or nationals having to return to school.
- Pray for the finances needed to support the translators, pay the expenses, and publish the books.
- Pray for final decisions on key terms to be acceptable to all concerned.
- Pray for involvement and consensus of denominations on wording, writing, and printing.
- Pray for reconciliation of alphabets and alternate wordings, due to dialect differences.
- Pray for authorizations and approvals by church authorities and governments where required.
- Pray for translations being done in secret to protect lives of those involved and their families.
- Pray for the timing and survival from hurricanes, earthquakes and safety of manuscripts.
- Pray against wars and insurrections that render it impossible to continue the work.
- Pray against the outbreak of persecution against the mother-tongue workers involved.
- Pray that those involved in the translation will not fall into sin that nullifies their efforts.
- Pray against subversive political forces that make it impossible to live and work in the village.
- Pray against theft and destruction of computers, printers, homes and translation centers.
- Pray against technical failures of computers, storage discs, copiers, printers, and service items.
- Pray for readers to be available to give community check on acceptability of the translation.
- Pray for sufficient trained consultants so it will not be delayed waiting for final approval.
- Pray for accuracy of typesetters, often working in a language they do not understand.
- Pray for proofreaders, that they may catch and correct errors that would mar the translation.
- Pray for printers, that inking, pagination, binding, may result in clear, useable, durable books.
- Pray that paper for printing may be available when the camera-ready copy arrives.
- Pray for the mailing and shipping, that damage or loss in transit, delays in customs, not occur.
- Pray against the apathy of local believers who have grown accustomed to not understanding.
- Pray for literacy workers to promote literacy and so relieve translators to finish the translation.
- Pray for local enthusiasm for the completion and publication that will urge the translators on.
Some Scriptures to use when praying for the completion of New Testament translations:
- John 4:34 Jesus: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
- John 17:4 Christ, THE WORD, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." Then v.8 "I gave them the words you gave me.”
- John 20:31 “Written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”
- 2 Peter 1:15 Peter: “I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” So he wrote them down, as part of the New Testament.
- 1 Chronicles 28:20 “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or be discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:16 “All Solomon's work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.”
- Zechariah 4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”
- Ezra 6:14 “So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper…they finished building the temple according to the command of the Lord and the decree of Cyrus.”
- Joshua 4:10 “Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done.” Prayer is a priestly function.
- Isaiah 55:11 “My word…will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” A promise to be claimed for those translating it!
- Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it....” Promised blessing!
- Luke 1:3,4 ‘It seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you…so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
(developed by Wycliffe USA)
