God placed a huge burden on my heart at the beginning of this year for the nations of the earth. God said it was time to rise in intercession for nations of the earth, not like I hadn’t prayed for countries previously but God wanted an intentionality to it; buying a map and striking out countries as I pray and read about them, this level of intentionality.

Because it came as a direct instruction, I also noticed that He would remind me quickly about it whenever I had my moments of “God aren’t you going to come now?” Or “God isn’t it time yet?”

He would respond with things like “what of the people in the nations you’re yet to pray for?” Or “what of this and that country where only 10-20% of her citizens are Christians?”

This reply would often snap me back quickly to the reality that while I’m ready for home (to be with God), the world isn’t and its Abba’s hearts desire that we’re all ready and so this should make it my earnest desire too. So in times like that, I’ll remind myself of the nations yet to be covered and fresh strength and zeal to keep pushing will return.

I highly recommend this by the way; attaching your living on earth to eternal achievements like soul winning, intercession, etc. it alters your entire life view. It should be our everyday lifestyle anyway.

Yesterday, I was starting a new continent because I just finished praying for countries in Africa individually, as I closed my eyes to take a nap in the afternoon, I said to myself that I was going to move on to Asia, with no particular reason. I looked at the map above my bed and just decided I’d move on to start the countries in Asia.

I guess God had other plans because as I slept, I had a dream of grizzly bears chasing me and as the dream ensued, I realised that I was in Australia in the dream. It was a very strange dream because as the bears were coming to me, I would panic in fear and run but they chased after me. At one point, I was on the streets of Australia in a car and two of the bears got in the car but they didn’t hurt me, only looked at me like they were expecting something, I left the car running away from them again and the last scene in the dream was of me in a house, another bear had come again looking for me and I ran behind the tv station and before it could find me, I woke up.

I woke up more perplexed than I can describe. I kept petitioning God what kind of dream it was, I didn’t even remember my thoughts before my nap, until I got to praying later in the evening and God just said “Australia is waiting”, I was too shocked to pray again, I just cried and cried because I couldn’t believe that God would give me that dream just to tell me to move on to Australia and not Asia.

While still in prayer (more like crying), God reminded me of Apostle Paul, how he slept and had a vision of a man in Macedonia telling him to come and the bible tells us that the following day, he packed his bags and went up there to Macedonia where he continued preaching the gospel (Acts 16:6-10).

My dream wasn’t God telling me to pack my bags and go to Australia (but who even knows), it was just guidance and direction on what continent to go to next in prayer. I honestly wondered why it mattered, because in the end, I’d get through all the countries is all the continents but I guess God always knows best.

The entire experience has been humbling and I’m grateful for how it’s altering my perspective on life and the spread of the gospel, God has put missionaries in my heart in a way I’ve never really seen them before, He’s challenged me to pray for them and the spread of the gospel but most importantly, He’s teaching me how we all have a part to play. The intercessors, the financiers and the missionaries. All need to stand at their post. Not to say that God will not call us from one of these categories to the other, or in fact, have us do all three simultaneously.

God went further to interpret my dream, explained a lot with how and why the identity of the people coming after me were bears and why I was fearful. Interestingly, I also got to find out later in study that Australia actually has no bear species. (Weird, I know).

It made my prayer time yesterday particularly richer and fuller and I understand why sometimes we pray for encounters. It definitely isn’t as important as hearing God speak to you directly from your heart, neither does it substitute the leading of the Holy Spirit from within, but sometimes it is necessary to root you further in conviction and awaken you to what’s available like what this dream did for/in me.

I prayed for Perth today by the way, it’s a lovely city in Australia, home to about 2.1 million people and is the 4th largest city in the Australia continent, largely distanced from the rest of the continent. (Just thought to give you random information of the city I covered today).

God is doing so much, not just in Australia, but all the world around us, I want to challenge many more, let’s rise up and pray! In Abbas words, “The nations are waiting”.