Persevering Prayer in Paris 

I recently gathered with my entire church family in Paris (or most of them anyway) for a weekend away from the absolute buzz of activity that is daily life in the capital city. Not long after I came to serve in France ten years ago, I learned that many Protestant, evangelical churches have this tradition—to take 2-3 days away together as a church family to study God’s Word, enjoy quality time together, and share highlights and vision for the coming year as a church family. This weekend away quickly became an annual highlight for me. It’s a really powerful and prayerful time. 

This year, an excellent Bible teacher, and dare I now say “friend,” came to lead us in God’s Word. He taught from the book of Colossians, and I was inspired filled with energy. I literally had to withhold some of my “AMEN” cries from my seat at the back of the audience! He taught through Paul’s words to the church family at Colossae, specifically admonishing them to persevere in prayer. 

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” – Colossians 4:2-4 (ESV) 

Over my time in ministry, I have become deeply convicted about the gift of prayer God has given us, the access we have to His holy presence through it, and the power He promises to use to respond to our prayers. It is no joke that Jesus died on the cross to give us ACCESS to the Father and a big part of that access is direct communication, reciprocal communication, intimate conversation…in other words: prayer. I wanted to jump out of my seat when, Raphael Charrier, a well-known author in France, led us through this time in God’s Word. 

“Yes,” my heart cried, “Persevere in Prayer!” I wanted to shout it from the top of the world for every Christian to hear and consider and agree. This is my encouragement to fellow followers of Christ: If you have given your life to Him to be your king and savior, take advantage of the gift of prayer. Don’t take it for granted. Speak to God. He is listening. When you don’t know what to pray, I encourage you to open the book of Psalms, read it out loud, and ask the Lord to show you how to pray. You can trust him. He hears you. He cares. (1 Peter 5:6-7) 

It is worth mentioning that many of our instructions in Scripture about prayer come with the warning to stay alert. We’re told to be watchful (Colossians 4), and to be sober-minded (1 Peter 5). The need to be aware of spiritual battles is real, so that we know what to pray for (as we often don’t; see Romans 8:26). This goes hand-in-hand with being aware of God’s choice to respond to our prayers, so that we understand the urgency of the need to pray for people to be saved, to pray for God’s will to be done, to pray for Him to continue transforming us, and to not be discouraged by the difficulties of this life or waiting for those prayers to be answered. He knew we needed the teaching and reminder: persevere in prayer! Don’t give up! 

Needless to say, we had an excellent time at our church weekend away. We are praying for fruit in the spiritual lives of all in the coming year and praying for the work of the Holy Spirit to reach people in Paris with the Gospel. May the Lord help us care for them and bring them closer to Jesus. Please pray with us for this, for His glory and our collective joy. 

Here are some specific ways you can pray for the Kingdom work taking place in France:  

• For Bible studies taking place with women; some one-on-one, some in groups. Some of these women are believers seeking discipleship while others are unbelievers considering the claims of Jesus.  

• For the newest global worker with TEAM France who just arrived in August. 

• For continued opportunities to partner with and serve in the local church. 

• For opportunities to engage with people in the local community to develop friendships and ease into Gospel conversations. 

• For the mobilization of new global workers in France and other parts of Europe. 

Jenn Hylton has served with TEAM in France since 2014. This article was adapted from a piece which first appeared on Jenn’s blog in October 2024. Find more great highlights from Jenn’s ministry in Paris as well as thoughts on life on the mission field here.