Praying effectively for the lost

[Rens]

We've always prayed like this in church for the lost, learned it from Benny Hinn who got his whole family saved this way. I went to a Bible school a few times where they have the same method, but also this book that explains it well. It's very effective. I saw a lot of people get saved this way. It's for free on internet. If you google it you get a pdf.
Praying effectively for the lost
Lee E. Thomas

 

[Lamb]

What do you mean by pray effectively? I pray for the lost but rely on the Holy Spirit to use the Word to convert and this according to God's timing.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Here are some thoughts on prayer.

CCC 2581 For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their education in prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening offering, the incense, and the bread of the Presence ("shewbread") - all these signs of the holiness and glory of God Most High and Most Near were appeals to and ways of prayer. But ritualism often encouraged an excessively external worship. The people needed education in faith and conversion of heart; this was the mission of the prophets, both before and after the Exile.

CCC 2582 Elijah is the "father" of the prophets, "the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob." Elijah's name, "The Lord is my God," foretells the people's cry in response to his prayer on Mount Carmel. St. James refers to Elijah in order to encourage us to pray: "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."

CCC 2583 After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in The Word of God and confirms her faith by his urgent prayer: God brings the widow's child back to life. The sacrifice on Mount Carmel is a decisive test for the faith of the People of God. In response to Elijah's plea, "Answer me, O LORD, answer me," the Lord's fire consumes the holocaust, at the time of the evening oblation. The Eastern liturgies repeat Elijah's plea in the Eucharistic epiclesis. Finally, taking the desert road that leads to the place where the living and true God reveals himself to his people, Elijah, like Moses before him, hides "in a cleft of he rock" until the mysterious presence of God has passed by. But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ," crucified and risen.

CCC 2584 In their "one to one" encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to The Word of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Saviour God, the Lord of history.

 

[Rens]

What do you mean by pray effectively? I pray for the lost but rely on the Holy Spirit to use the Word to convert and this according to God's timing.

The god of this world has blinded their thoughts, so we bind the powers that blind their thoughts and pray God opens their eyes, shines with His Light in their hearts, that He forgives them and that the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin, righteousness and judgement. That He sends labourers their way and they hear the gospel. That He frees them of the desires of their flesh and their unrenewed thoughts.

 

[psalms 91]

A good way to pray for sure

 

[Krissy Cakes]

ray:

 

[Alithis]

praying for the lost ,is i beleive as all other prayer ,an action based upon obedience . to pray for the lost is to go and share the gospel TO the lost , heal the sick , set the captive free. etc

that is to say , to pray effectively we must be sincere ,thus we, in desiring the lost to be saved we ,will not just say so , but will do whatever we can to make it so, in accordance with the word of god , for all true prayer is in full agreement with the word of god .
if we pray prayers for the lost but never make any attempt to take the ONE message that has the power to save them - to them . then we must question the sincerity of our prayer . for love that has no action ,love that is not expressed outwardly . does not exist .
so if we pray prayers for the lost but never open our mouths to speak the gospel to the lost . our sincerity and our words do not match , we give prayers for the lost as a lip service .
refusing to speak the gospel or share the gospel in both word and deed is a disobedience ... ( it is usually based on a fear and the fear based on never being taught HOW - and that lays heavily on many church leaderships as it is the job and purpose of the teachers prophets etc ,to equip the body to DO the work of the lord -and they mostly fail to do so . and this lack of equipping leaves people with a frustrated desire to do it but at the same time feeling woefully unequipped and frustrated ,even discontent .So many more would speak the gospel they understood fully how much it is the power of god unto salvation .. and has nothing to do with where they are at in god . it's just obedience-His word ,his spirit ,his power does the saving ),

the psalms say" if a man regards iniquity in his heart the lord will NOT hear him" . knowing we are to speak the gospel, but refusing to do so and then making excuse for not doing so, is a form of regarding iniquity .
so if we pray for the lost but never go and speak the very gospel that can save them ..there is a chasm of difference between our prayer and the sincerity of our prayer .
i think we will find that most people who prayer for the lost AND see the lost being found and lead people to the lord are those who GO AND DO the gospel as they are praying for the lost.

i have observed so in my own life that for all the years i prayed but did not go ,, i became frustrated and disillusioned that i never saw any one actually being saved (sure we hear about it second hand )
but once i began to put the prayer into action , and GO and speak the gospel to people , and lay hands on the sick for healing .. i began to experience leading people to the lord in prayer .
in their garage , in their laundry ,in their kitchen , down at the local play ground ,in their lounge .. wherever they are at ..

you will know when you're praying sincerely for the lost .. for the lord will begin to thrust you into HIS harvest field ...
If you are going to embark on praying for the lost ,, get ready to GO to the lost ,, because the desire to pray for them is merely the beginning of God's desire to SEND YOU to them ..

 

[Rens]

Yes but some have heard it a lot of times, but without prayer it's no use. I agree it's both.

 

[Alithis]

Yes but some have heard it a lot of times, but without prayer it's no use. I agree it's both.

pray without ceasing ..of course it is both .. but never let it be said by us that one action excuses us from the other action .

 

[Rens]

It's really a good book. I read it again yesterday.

https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&sour...1ZxQfk4Zi4jDmUVPQ&sig2=E7G5_Iq3LS-WkJVQ5Dd-oQ

 

[Rens]

UNDERSTANDING THE NECESSITY
The lost will not and indeed cannot be saved unless someone
prays for them. This is a shocking statement that sounds unbelievable
until we view the Biblical portrayal of the lost as being: children of the
devil (John 8:44), under the authority of Satan (Acts 26:18), a strong
man‟s house (Mark 3:27), prisoners of war (Isaiah 14:17) and blinded to
the gospel (II Corinthians 4:3-4).
All of these are daunting reasons why we must pray for the lost if
they are to have any hope of salvation. But let‟s focus just on spiritual
blindness for a moment. II Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “But if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them.” This passage clearly teaches that Satan has blinded the minds of
the lost specifically to keep them from understanding the gospel.
Lewis Sperry Chafer says, “The blinding or veiling of the mind,
mentioned in II Corinthians 4:3-4, causes a universal incapacity to
comprehend the way of salvation, and is imposed upon unregenerate
man by the arch enemy of God in his attempts to hinder the purpose of
God in redemption. It is a condition of mind against which man can
have no power” (Chafer 57).
One of the greatest preachers of all time was Charles H. Spurgeon.
Listen as he shares the testimony of his conversion: “I confess that I had
been tutored in piety, put into my cradle by prayerful hands, and lulled
to sleep by songs about Jesus. I had heard the Gospel continually. Yet,
when the Word of the Lord came to me with power, it was as new as if I
had lived among the unvisited tribes of Central Africa and had never
heard the tidings of the cleansing foundation filled with blood, drawn
from the Savior‟s veins.
When for the first time I received the Gospel and my soul was
saved, I thought that I had never really heard it before. I began to think
that the preachers to whom I had listened had not truly preached it. But,
on looking back, I am inclined to believe that I had heard the Gospel
fully preached many hundreds of times before. This was the

 

[Rens]

difference: I then heard it as though I did not hear it. When I did hear it,
the message may not have been any clearer in itself than it had been at
former times, but the power of the Holy Spirit was present to open my
ears and to guide the message to my heart.
Then I thought I had never heard the truth preached before. Now I
am persuaded that the light shone often on my eyes, but I was blind;
therefore, I thought that the light had never come there. The light was
shining all the while, but there was no power to receive it. The eyeball
of the soul was not sensitive to the divine beams” (Spurgeon 26-28).
Spurgeon‟s testimony is a powerful illustration of how ineffective
the gospel is to a mind that is blinded to it. Sharing the gospel with
those for whom no one has prayed is like encouraging a blind man to
view a beautiful sunset with you. It is a hopeless case, for he is blind.
He cannot see!
And unless the Holy Spirit removes the demonic blinders and
opens his mind and heart to the gospel, he cannot be saved because the
things of God are “foolishness to him” (I Corinthians 2:14). The Greek
word for foolishness is “moria” from which moron is derived.
Webster‟s defines moron as “the highest classification of mental
deficiency, above imbecile and idiot.” So, a lost person sees the gospel
as moronic and stupid, but it is the “strong man” in his life that causes
this negative attitude toward the gospel.
To try to share the gospel with someone in this condition (which
includes every lost person for whom no one is praying) may even do
more harm than good. Jessie Penn-Lewis says, “Until we recognize the
strong man „fully armed‟ at the back of all darkness of thought, and
blindness to the Gospel, we shall not do much towards bringing men out
of the power of darkness into the kingdom of God‟s dear Son. And until
we know how to take heed to the Lord‟s warning and first bind the
strong man, the attempts we make to „spoil his goods‟ will only enrage
him, and enable him to strengthen his armour, and guard his palace in
peace” (Penn-Lewis 42-3).
Once we understand the importance of praying for souls to be
saved, we must learn how to do it. In the January, 1979 issue of
Fullness Magazine, Manley Beasley wrote an article entitled “Praying
for the Lost.” This is his opening statement: “Praying for the lost is an
area about which much is said but little is known or understood.” It is
like trying to open a locked safe without knowing the combination; no
matter how valuable are the contents, we eventually get frustrated and
quit.
But eternal souls for whom Christ died are much too valuable for
us to quit. Therefore, we must learn how to pray effectively for them.
As a matter of fact, it may be your prayer that keeps someone out of
hell. The well-known revivalist Charles G. Finney said, “In the case of
an impenitent friend, the very condition on which he is to be saved from
hell may be the fervency and importunity of your prayer for that
individual” (Finney 54).
Jesus did only what He saw the Father do (John 5:19). Likewise,
we should do only what we see our Lord doing, and what is He doing –
“He ever liveth to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25). We make a grave
mistake by labeling some Christians as intercessors. This tends to imply
that the rest of us are relieved of the responsibility – NOT SO!!! All of
us are to do what we see our Lord doing – praying for others.
So, let‟s learn how to pray effectively for the lost and join our Lord
in doing the main thing.

 

[Rens]

THE BIBLICAL BASIS
One of the most powerful means of praying effectively involves
presenting strong reasons to God why our prayers must be answered. He
even commands us to do this in Isaiah 41:21, “Produce your cause, saith
the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons…”
The strongest reasons are always Biblically-based, and there are
many such reasons concerning prayer for the lost. I like the way F.J.
Huegel expressed it, “If we find a way to harness our puny plea for help
to the great purposes of God in the proclamation of the Gospel and the
furtherance of Christ‟s Kingdom, then we begin to pray with the spirit
and vigor of a Paul or a David Brainard or a George Muller or a Praying
Hyde, and we must be heard and great things will be wrought” (Huegel
80).
One of the foremost reasons for praying for the lost is our love for
them. Prayer has been described as “love on its knees.” Certainly, it
was God‟s love for mankind that brought Jesus to the cross; it was love
for his five brothers that compelled the rich man in hell to pray for them
“lest they also come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28); and love
will lead us to the place of intercession.
The historic Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago has been mightily
used of God to rescue hundreds of souls tottering on the precipice of
hell. And it is no surprise to me that the eighteen foot neon sign
“PACIFIC GARDEN MISSION” included the reminder MOTHER‟S
PRAYERS HAVE FOLLOWED YOU. Only eternity will reveal the
incredible number of souls that have been saved through the tears and
prayers of a mother‟s love! Indeed, love is our greatest asset in the
saving of souls.
Faith is another Biblical basis for praying for the lost. Jesus said,
“All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). All things
certainly include the salvation of souls. If you can believe God for
someone‟s salvation, you shall have it.
Four men brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus and, seeing their
faith, He said, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mark 2:5). Though they
brought him to be healed, he also received forgiveness of his sins.

 

[Rens]

PERSONAL TESTIMONIES
I taught this material at Crestview Baptist Church, Farmerville,
Louisiana, in May, 2002. The pastor, Brother Wayne Whiteside, wrote
me a letter saying, “We have seen strongholds ripped out of peoples
lives…The materials that you shared have begun a revolution in the lives
of those putting into practice God‟s principles of praying for the lost.”
Wayne has a God-given burden for inmates on death-row and
spends much time in the prisons trying to win them to Christ. He
continues his story: “A major victory involves a death-row inmate
recently executed at the prison in Huntsville, Texas. He was a very
dedicated Muslim, morally better than most Christians I know. I had
been working with him for about two years, sharing the gospel with him
and having my church pray for him – all in vain. He would write to me,
ending his letters with, „Allah be with you.‟ I never felt more hopeless
or helpless over any case.
Then, about two months before his execution date in September
2002, I encouraged our church to pray specifically to bind the strong
man of False Religion and to plead the blood of Christ over him.
Instantly a change began to take place. He began to admit that Jesus was
a good teacher and his letters now ended with „God be with you.‟
He invited me to be present at his execution. I made the trip to
Huntsville to see him one last time. How my heart thrilled when he
asked me, „What must I do to trust Christ for salvation?‟ At 3:05 p.m.
he asked the Lord Jesus to save him. Fifty-one hours and twelve
minutes later he was dead. Just two hours before his execution he
winked at me and said, „I love you and I‟ll be waiting for you in
heaven.‟ And the very last words he spoke on earth were these: „God
forgives. He‟s the greatest!‟ He died with such a peaceful look on his
face that even the warden commented on it.
Everything we tried to do in our effort to win this inmate to Christ
was absolutely in vain until we forcefully engaged the strong man of
False Religion in his life and bound him through the blood of Christ.
Then we saw an immediate breaking that continued to the point of his
being so open to the gospel that he even asked me how he could be saved. He is in heaven today because we learned how to pray for the
lost – especially in the area of binding the strong man like Jesus said in
Mark 3:27. Thank you for speaking the liberating truth to our
congregation. May the Lord grant you much success in the harvest of
the last days!”

 

[Rens]

“Some years ago in Springfield, Illinois, an earnest man gathered
about him a praying band and made this suggestion to them: „When you reach
home this evening write down the names of all persons in Springfield whom you
would like to have saved, and then pray for them by name, three times a day,
that they may be saved. Then make your best possible efforts to induce those
persons to turn to God for salvation.‟
There resided in Springfield at that time an invalid woman who
physically was almost absolutely helpless. She had been bed-ridden for
seventeen years. She had been for a long time praying to God in a general way
to save a multitude of souls. When her family told her of the suggestion made to
the praying band, she said: „Here is something I can do.‟ She could use her
right hand. There was an adjustable writing table at the side of her bed. She
asked for pen and paper. She wrote down the names of fifty-seven
acquaintances. She prayed for each of these by name three times a day. She
wrote them letters telling them of her interest in them. She also wrote to
Christian friends, in whom she knew these persons had confidence, and urged
them to speak to these persons about their souls‟ welfare and to do their best to
persuade them to repent and believe. She had unquestioning faith in God. In
her humble, earnest dependence upon Him she thus interceded for the unsaved.
In time every one of those fifty-seven persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as his
Saviour” (McClure 124-25).

 

[Rens]

I suppose there are hundreds of strongholds Satan uses to guard
unbelief, but the fundamental truth we must understand is that there is
always one key stronghold in the life of each unsaved individual that
hinders that person from receiving the gospel. The battle is NEVER
fought over a multitude of sins (though the individual may have many)
but rather over only one!! That particular stronghold is the armor on
which the strong man depends, but when his armor (stronghold) is
destroyed, he is defeated and the person is ready for salvation (Luke
11:21-22).
Another absolutely essential element in the spiritual warfare aspect
of winning souls is that of exercising our authority in Christ. He has
given unto us His incredible authority (Matthew 16:19) but we must use
it. “Just as the policeman on the street corner can direct the flow of
traffic because of his authority, so can a believer pray for the souls of
men bound and blinded by Satan and cause them to be delivered. The
powers of darkness find their strength is broken through the blood of
Jesus Christ; and when we exercise our authority in Him, they can no
longer withstand us… God has called us to be instruments through
which He can exercise His authority. Let us by faith accept this position
and stand firm regardless of the opposition. He will then be able to do
things through us that we never dreamed of” (Epp 108-10).
Legally, all souls belong to Christ because He paid for their
sins on Calvary (I John 2:2). But Satan, illegally and forcefully,
continues to hold them captive, resolutely refusing to let them go. And
he will continue to hold them bound in spiritual darkness until we take
our rightful place and exercise our throne-rights by demanding their
immediate release on the basis of Christ‟s shed blood and our delegated
authority from Him.
There is absolutely no reason for even one single soul to die and
go to hell because Christ has already paid their redemption price. And
the only reason why anyone will go to hell is that we have not taken our
place of authority and bound the strong man, insisting on their salvation.
The devil will not release them until we make him.

 

[Rens]

We must understand that it is only as the Holy Spirit quickens the
word in the hearer‟s heart, that one can be saved. This is why we must
pray for God‟s word to be effective in the lives of those hearing it!!!
If we really want to see multitudes saved, then we need to pray for
revival. The classic scripture on revival begins this way, “If my people
which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray…” (II
Chronicles 7:14). The kind of praying noted here is intercession –
praying for others. It was only after Job prayed (same Hebrew word as
above) for his friends that God dramatically changed his own situation
(Job 42:10).
During times of revival, all prayer is almost exclusively for others.
Duncan Campbell describes revival as “a people saturated with God”
(Edwards 26). When people are saturated with God, they are more
concerned about others than about themselves. His passion for souls
becomes theirs!!
Listen as Finney describes the prevalence of prayer during times of
revival: “I have said, more than once, that the spirit of prayer that
prevailed in those revivals was a very marked feature of them. It was
common for young converts to be greatly exercised in prayer; and in
some instances, so much so, that they were constrained to pray whole
nights, and until their bodily strength was quite exhausted, for the
conversion of souls around them. There was a great pressure of the
Holy Spirit upon the minds of Christians; and they seemed to bear about
with them the burden of immortal souls…it was very common to find
Christians, whenever they met in any place, instead of engaging in
conversation, to fall on their knees in prayer.

Not only were prayer meetings greatly multiplied and fully
attended…but there was a mighty spirit of secret prayer. Christians
prayed a great deal, many of them spending hours in private prayer. It
was also the case that two, or more, would take the promise: „If two of
you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall
be done for them of my Father which is in heaven‟ and make some
particular person a subject of prayer; and it was wonderful to what an
extent they prevailed. Answers to prayer were so manifestly multiplied
on every side, that no one could escape the conviction that God was
daily and hourly answering prayer” (Finney 141-42).
Just a cursory reading of revivals quickly reveals that hundreds,
thousands, and even millions of souls are converted to Christ during
these times. Jonathan Edwards even considered revival to be the major
means God uses to extend His kingdom (Edwards 26). So, if you want
to see souls saved, pray for revival!!!

 

[Rens]

THE SPECIFIC REQUESTS
Most of us encounter difficulty in praying for someone to be saved
because all we know to do is say, “God, please save so-and-so.” We feel
foolish in praying that one statement over and over again, so we usually
give up and quit. However, this kind of praying involves four areas: the
individual, the soul-winner, the word of God, and revival. When we
learn to pray for specifics in these areas, our intercession becomes
challenging and effective.
To begin with, we pray for the individual by name, asking the Lord
to do five things in his life. First of all, we ask the Lord to sanctify him.
This may sound strange but this is how God begins His work of
redemption in every individual‟s life. He always sanctifies or “sets
apart” a person for salvation before He saves him.
The Bible clearly teaches this truth in I Peter 1:2, “Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ…”
We see the same emphasis in II Thessalonians 2:13-14, “God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth…”
It is like God draws an invisible circle around the person and then
begins to bring his influences to bear there. It is easy to see that
whatever comes “inside” that circle directly and mostly affects the one
already in it. When God Himself gets in that circle, incredible things
begin to happen, as you will see when you read the personal testimonies
later in the book.
This wonderful truth is a great encouragement to those of us
praying for others because we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit who
is the Lord of the harvest always gets his man, once He sanctifies him!
A college student, professing to be an atheist, once wrote to C.S. Lewis
explaining that he had fallen in with some Christian students who were
vigorously witnessing to him of their faith. Some of the things they said
had unsettled his thinking; he was going through some great struggles.
What did Dr. Lewis think? Lewis wrote back: “I think you are already
in the meshes of the net – the Holy Spirit is after you. I doubt you will get away.

 

[Rens]

Now we ask the Lord to bless him. When Jesus sent His disciples
into “His harvest,” He gave them specific instructions to “first say,
Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:1-5). Since it is always the goodness
of God that leads individuals to repentance (Romans 2:4), it is
imperative that we implore God to liberally bless them.
But sometimes when our prayers for the salvation of others do not
bring speedy results, we tend to get frustrated and impatient, secretly
desiring for God to “teach them a lesson with the rod of trouble.” When
a certain village of Samaritans rejected the Lord, His disciples wanted
God to burn them to a crisp on the spot. He rebuked them saying, “Ye
know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not
come to destroy men‟s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:52-56). If we
are to emulate our dear Savior, we must continually desire God‟s best
for all people. We should especially ask His very best blessings upon
those for whom we pray.
Thirdly, we ask the Lord to convict the individual, since
conviction is absolutely necessary for salvation. Only the Holy Spirit
can bring someone under conviction, so we would do well to plead John
16:8-11 in our prayers. Conviction basically means to convince of a
fault. The fault or problem of the lost is in “not believing on Jesus” and
this is THE SIN of which the Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:9).
People already know what their “sins” are, except for the sin of
unbelief in Christ. Since this is the only sin that condemns one to hell,
Satan keeps them blinded to it. Therefore, the Holy Spirit convicts or
convinces the lost at this one and only point, revealing to them the Lord
Jesus Christ in His glory, so they can be saved. However, we must
know that conviction does not automatically guarantee salvation. As
Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come,
Felix trembled…” (Acts 24:25). But there is no Biblical indication that
he ever got saved.
Next, we ask the Lord to illuminate his mind to the truth. Even
after one comes under conviction of his need for salvation, his gospel-
blinded mind may remain closed to the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ and he will remain in spiritual darkness (II Corinthians 4:6).
Once the heart and mind has been opened to the truth, God uses
Christians to explain the gospel to him. Although the Ethiopian eunuch
was a seeker for truth, and had come to Jerusalem expressly to worship

 

[Rens]

and even owned a copy of Scripture, he admitted that he could not
understand “except some man should guide me” (Acts 8:26-39).
An even more fascinating story is that of Cornelius (Acts 10). He
was “a devout (holy) man and one that feared God with all his house,
which gave alms to the people and prayed to God always.” Hey, he was
much better than most Christians we know, and yet, he was still lost – he
did not understand the way of salvation. He was instructed by an
angel to send for Peter who would, “tell thee what thou oughtest to do.”
Cornelius and those with him were so open to the gospel that as soon as
they heard “the word,” the Holy Ghost fell on them and they got saved
while Peter was still preaching!!
Ask the Lord to open the minds and hearts of the lost – He will!
Then, they can be gloriously saved.
Now we are ready to ask the Lord to save him. However, we must
be willing for God to do whatever it takes to facilitate his salvation, for
God orchestrates events in his life designed to bring him to repentance.
In commenting on Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost,” Chafer says, “It must mean more
than a mere attempt to locate unsaved men, for they are present on every
hand. The term suggests a divine preparation of the unsaved that will
bring them into adjustment with the necessary conditions of salvation”
(Chafer 3-4).
Tony Fontenot‟s family had prayed for his salvation for several
years. Their prayers seemed to have been in vain until May 22, 1982.
On that faithful day he crashed his plane and nearly burned to death.
God had his attention – the rest was easy!
Once the individual is ready to receive the gospel, someone must
share it with him. So the natural thing to do is to pray for the Lord to
send someone to do that. As a matter of fact, this is exactly what He
tells us to do, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth
labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Because the laborers are few, which means “puny in extent,
degree, number, duration, or value” (Strong‟s Dictionary), we must pray
for God‟s help in this area. We first pray for Him to send out more
workers. The Greek word “ekballo” has the idea of using force