Here is today’s devotional from the Seventh Day Baptist World Federation 2026 Week of Prayer Booklet by Director Nick Kersten, SDB General Conference of USA and Canada. A very timely reflection!!
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
Jesus began His public ministry by calling a limited number of people who followed Him closely and learned everything from Him. This training was not limited to theological instruction, as the exercise of living together surely meant life-on-life education. These called people who lived close enough to Jesus
to learn His ways are those who are called His disciples.
Jesus commands His disciples in the Great Commission, because of His authority, to go out into the world and continue this work, and that He would be with them in it. The sense of the command to “go” in this passage is really more continual than a single act of going. It is a command to continue in this behavior everywhere we go. In other words, this is a command for His disciples then and now to take up a way of being and the stewardship of the mission that Jesus was on.
Because of this, the calling to craft disciples is on each one of us who are His disciples. No one is exempt. And while it is tempting to imagine this work belonging to someone else because of some talent or skill they possess or ones we do not, each of us is called to take our apportioned talents, skills, resources, and time to participate in the work of making disciples. Ultimately, the work of saving belongs solely to God, and the process of making any single disciple does not belong solely to us. Nevertheless, we are called into the world as skilled workers to contribute to the work God is doing in others. Faithfully and creatively using our skills and talents in the crafting of disciples who are being formed by God into the likeness of Christ is your calling and mine.
There is no shortage of opportunities, as even those people who have not yet followed Christ need someone to proclaim the Gospel to them–this too is an important and inescapable responsibility–to serve God in the making of new disciples. We engage both in the making of new disciples and the refining process of disciples who have walked with the Lord for many years.
Focusing questions for your prayers: How engaged are you in making disciples? Are you fully engaged? What obstacles and challenges exist for you in being more engaged in this vital work? Who in your life does God want to disciple through you? Are your eyes open to these opportunities?
Today’s Prayer Focus: Let us pray for Seventh Day Baptists in India*, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica*, Kenya*, Lebanon, and Liberia.
Pray that churches will intentionally disciple believers of all ages, equipping them to share Christ.
*Member conferences of the Seventh Day Baptist World Fed
Note: The link to download the English, Spanish and Portuguese versions is: https://sdbwf.org/publications/week-of-prayer/created-to-create. There is also a very helpful prayer guide to pray for our global brothers and sisters with this link: https://sdbwf.org/news/global-prayer-focus-during-the-week-of-prayer-2026.
