Scripture References: Luke 18:1-8

Pray for the Unsaved – Continued

Have you ever thought what would happen if the Holy Spirit ceased His intercession for you? Have you ever thought what is going to happen to a lost world when God’s appointed intercessors forget to pray for them and nobody else is left to stand in the breach, nobody else is left to stand between the living and the dead to intercede for a poor, lost, dying, Hell-bound world? The return of Christ Jesus is likely to be very, very soon. Have you thought about who will intercede for the world when He calls His Bride, His Church, away from this evil world?

The lack of intercession is why the world is plunging into Hell like it is now. That is why iniquity abounds. Far too many churches have grown cold and worldly because God’s people have been too busy about other things. People are starting to turn from the truth as the writer of Hebrews and others have predicted long ago. We see this truth in the news daily. It’s because so many have forgotten or neglected to pray. Oh, how prayer makes such a mighty difference in the salvation of souls!

How we should be continually praying for the unsaved! Think of this, it can make a mighty big difference if an unsaved soul knows somebody is praying for him. They may be as hard as nails, they may be unkind, they may say hard things to you, but those prayers touch the cords that nothing else will ever touch. I have experienced this first-hand as have so many others who believe so strongly in intercessory prayer! We experience this truth with family and acquaintances.

I remember quite a long time ago, soon after I was ordained, when a young man came up to me after a service where I preached on intercessory prayer, he said to me, “Pastor listen! I’m a saved man this evening because my wife as well as other family members wouldn’t quit praying for me. If others could know what it means to a hopelessly lost sinner and know that somebody won’t quit praying for that person, Christians would pray much more fervently and more continually for unsaved people.”

Oh, how we should be praying continually and fervently for lost souls!

Pray for Ourselves

Here is something that needs to be addressed concerning prayer for ourselves. Many believers think that it is selfish if we spend time with the Lord, asking Him for ourselves, and yet, Jesus Himself taught that the Father expects us to ask for our needs according to His will, to ask for forgiveness for ourselves as we forgive others (Matthew 6:8-15). We have the privilege and the right, in Christ Jesus, to approach the throne of grace, boldly, and pray in behalf of our own lives! When Christians live in a world that hates us because of our love of Christ, we are up against the devil in all of his subtlety, and the world with all its corruption. The devil is most assuredly going to do his utmost to paralyze us, to close our mouth of testimony, and do everything else he can to make us useless in the Kingdom of God. He knows that when we get saved, he can never get one of us as his own, but he has gone a long way to accomplish his purpose when he can shut our mouths and cause us to pass by on the other side with no testimony from our lips, no witnessing to a lost world, no demonstrations (actions) of love toward the lost and dying world.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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