Small Group Discussion & Prayer Guide
God’s Heart for the Unreached
Designed for church-based small groups · Total time: 60 minutes (flexible)
A Note for Leaders
This guide is designed to help your group encounter God’s heart for the nations through Scripture and prayer. You are not here to persuade anyone — you are here to create space for the Holy Spirit to stir what only He can stir: awareness, compassion, and obedience.
You do not need to be a missions expert. Guide the conversation, read the Scriptures, and invite participation. Then trust God to do the rest. Expect Him to.
Suggested Time Flow
Scripture and Laying the Foundation 15 minutes
Discussion 15 minutes
Guided Prayer 20 minutes
Invitation & Closing 15 minutes
Opening Scripture & Reflection · 15 minutes
Read aloud: Choose one- Matthew 9:35–38, Romans 10:10-17, Luke 10:1-9
Opening Question:
What stands out to you from this passage?
Leader Reflection (read or summarize):
Jesus does not begin with strategy — He begins with compassion. Before He tells His disciples to go, He tells them to ask. Prayer is not a warm-up to the real work. It is how God invites His people to partner with His heart for those who have never heard. What you give in prayer is not lost — it is sown into a harvest you may not live to see. Expect God to tend what you offer Him.
Understanding the Unreached
An unreached people group is a people with little to no access to the gospel — often with no local church, no believers, no witness of any kind among them. There are 2,085 unengaged people groups — 202 million people — with no missionaries, no churches, and often no known believers among them.
Prayer is not something we do until someone goes. Prayer is how God prepares hearts, opens doors, and sends laborers. We are not waiting on the sidelines — we are invited into the center of what He is doing.
Group Discussion · 15 minutes
Use one or two questions depending on time. Allow space for honest responses — there are no wrong answers.
• Why do you think Jesus emphasizes prayer when talking about the harvest?
• How does knowing that millions have never heard the gospel affect the way you think about prayer?
• In what ways might God be inviting His church — not just missionaries — to participate in His global mission?
Transition to Prayer · Leader Read-Aloud
We have the opportunity tonight to be a part of solving the Great Commission. Our church/group has agreed to partner with an initiative called DOXA. Our vision is to engage all 2,085 unengaged people groups by 2033. We are simply responding to an invitation. God is already at work among the unreached — He is asking us to join Him through prayer. What we offer tonight, He will use. Pray expecting that to be true.
Guided Prayer for the Unreached · 20 minutes
Preferred: Use today’s prayer content from the campaign. Have the group scan the QR code or go to the URL on their devices, or display the content on screen. Pray through the content using one of the prayer format options listed below. This introduces participants to the people group and the ongoing prayer initiative.
If using the prayer content from the prayer campaign isn’t available, you can use the prayer prompts below.
Written Prayer Prompts:
• Ask the Lord of the harvest to send global workers to preach in places with no gospel witness.
• Intercede for opportunities for global workers to approach and be welcomed into these communities.
• Pray that faith would rise up among unreached peoples as they encounter God’s love and truth through hearing the word of God.
• Pray for individuals and churches to faithfully do their part to pray, give, and send — not for a season, but for the long haul.
Prayer Format Options:
• Silent prayer followed by spoken prayers
• One person reads a prompt while others pray aloud
• Popcorn prayer — short prayers from many voices
Invitation to Ongoing Prayer · 5 minutes
What we prayed tonight is part of a global initiative to provide continual, 24-hour prayer coverage for unreached people groups. Participation is simple and flexible — a 10-minute slot held faithfully by 144 people means that the [name of people group] is covered in 24 hour prayer. This is a meaningful act of stewardship.
If God has stirred something in you tonight, there is a next step available.
Next Step: (Leader: share the link or QR code, or invite people to connect with you after group.)
Closing Scripture & Blessing · 5 minutes
Read aloud: Psalm 67:1–2
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us — so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
Closing Blessing
Prayer is not preparation for the mission. Prayer is the mission. What is faithfully offered to God in this room will not return empty.
The format for this guide follows a SOAPS method of Bible study. Learn more about the SOAPS method at https://zume.training/soaps-bible-reading. Zume Training is a free, online curriculum that offers 30 tools and training for becoming a disciple that makes disciples. It is available in 50 languages.