No More Guessing
If you're a believer, I'm sure there are times that you pray for other people; particularly, your family. But are you ever just at a loss? Perhaps you're wondering where to even start because that person has made a profession, knows everything in his head, but sure isn't living like he knows it.
I was once listening to a radio program. The woman said it wasn't until her mother finally stopped thinking of her as a Christian and started praying for her salvation, that something happened. I think that program sort of tripped me up, because I felt the need to decide whether someone was saved or not. I vacillated between praying for a person's salvation and praying scriptural prayers or just asking for various situations that person was facing.
The truth is, God knows, and we don't really have to know. First of all, in Romans 8:26-27, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit takes our prayers and adjusts them so that they are in line with the will of the Father. If we are asking God to reveal himself to someone, draw them closer, use them, or purify them, He knows exactly where to find them.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. If we care enough to pray for someone, God cares enough to enlighten us about how to pray. Perhaps that is what happened to this woman's mother.
This afternoon, I was reading Do You Love Me? ...Feed My Sheep by Rick Tunis. This sentence popped out at me, "I found myself having a new set of priorities, new values, new appetites, and a new relationship with Jesus Christ." He was talking about being born again, but isn't that what it comes down to; saved or unsaved? It was a voila moment. Who wouldn't benefit from God giving us a new set of priorities, values, and appetites? I know I would, and I've been saved for a long time.
So, if, like me, you are sometimes troubled by wondering whether you need to pray for someone's salvation, or not, relax. God is bigger than all of that. Give up your God complex. You are approaching the all knowing, all seeing one; the one whose spirit lives among us, the all wise one. He hears your prayers. He is responding in ways you can't even fathom. He knows so much more about your recipient's heart than you'll ever know.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
I was once listening to a radio program. The woman said it wasn't until her mother finally stopped thinking of her as a Christian and started praying for her salvation, that something happened. I think that program sort of tripped me up, because I felt the need to decide whether someone was saved or not. I vacillated between praying for a person's salvation and praying scriptural prayers or just asking for various situations that person was facing.
The truth is, God knows, and we don't really have to know. First of all, in Romans 8:26-27, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit takes our prayers and adjusts them so that they are in line with the will of the Father. If we are asking God to reveal himself to someone, draw them closer, use them, or purify them, He knows exactly where to find them.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. If we care enough to pray for someone, God cares enough to enlighten us about how to pray. Perhaps that is what happened to this woman's mother.
This afternoon, I was reading Do You Love Me? ...Feed My Sheep by Rick Tunis. This sentence popped out at me, "I found myself having a new set of priorities, new values, new appetites, and a new relationship with Jesus Christ." He was talking about being born again, but isn't that what it comes down to; saved or unsaved? It was a voila moment. Who wouldn't benefit from God giving us a new set of priorities, values, and appetites? I know I would, and I've been saved for a long time.
So, if, like me, you are sometimes troubled by wondering whether you need to pray for someone's salvation, or not, relax. God is bigger than all of that. Give up your God complex. You are approaching the all knowing, all seeing one; the one whose spirit lives among us, the all wise one. He hears your prayers. He is responding in ways you can't even fathom. He knows so much more about your recipient's heart than you'll ever know.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
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