“Let it be remembered that the objects of prayer contemplated by the original proposers and founders of this monthly service [the monthly concert of prayer for missions] are many, and highly interesting. They are such as these:

Giving thanks that, while unnumbered millions of our fellow-men are destitute of the gospel we are favored with it, in all its fulness and glory; beseeching that the kingdom of God may come—that every obstacle to the spread of the gospel may be taken out of the way; that more laborers may be raised up, properly qualified, and sent forth into the great harvest; that the laborers already in the held may be protected and strengthened, and made to speak boldly as they ought to speak; and that the word of the Lord proclaimed by them may have free course and be glorified; that the beloved brethren and sisters who have left homes as dear to them as ours can be, for the sake of bearing the word of life to the benighted pagans, may be inspired with wisdom, and girded with strength, aided in every difficulty, and comforted in all their sorrows; that the millions throughout the world who have never heard the glad tidings of salvation, may have them preached to them in purity and power; that those who have the direction and management of selecting and sending forth missionaries, and of providing means for their support, may be counseled and guided, and their work crowned with abundant success; in particular, that the Boards of our beloved church, entrusted with the great work of training candidates for the holy ministry, and afterwards sending them forth to the domestic and foreign field of labour, may be enlightened, counseled, and prospered in all their measures; that the schools established among the heathen, and other destitute parts of the world, for training up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, may be multiplied and greatly prospered; that the Holy Spirit may reach the hearts of young and old among those who are sitting in the region and shadow of death; that those who call themselves Christians may feel their obligations to send the gospel to “every creature” who is destitute of it; that the sleeping church may be roused to a sense of her duty in regard to this great concern that the triumphs of evangelical truth may be great and glorious wherever it is sent; that the great Lord of the harvest would go with his ministering servants wherever they go to preach his blessed gospel; that the pagan heart may be everywhere enlightened and softened, and the way of the Lord be prepared for the spread of his name among all nations; that religion may be revived in all our churches; that wherever the gospel is preached, at home or abroad, it may take a saving effect on the hearts of men; and that all ends of the earth may see the salvation of God.

These are among the great and precious objects of prayer which ought to fill the hearts, and dwell upon the lips of the assembled worshippers at every monthly concert. Here is, surely, matter enough for enlarged, rich, and ever varying petitions. Here are topics sufficient in number, and in immeasurable importance, to occupy the fixed attention and the absorbing desires and zeal of every Christian. Surely, wherever there is a spark of love to the Savior, or to the souls of men, such objects as these cannot leave an indifferent heart.”

— Letters on the Observance of the Monthly Concert in Prayer, (1845), pp. 34ff.