Praying for people in times like these

Reflections from the Pulpit

Posted 2/23/22

I have never doubted that the reason I wake up in the morning is because God wanted me too ...

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Praying for people in times like these

Reflections from the Pulpit

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I have never doubted that the reason I wake up in the morning is because God wanted me too. As a minister called by God into His ministry, I have long known that God is in control of my everyday life and everything that happens to me, whether it be good or bad. God has been the one constant in my life that has never changed, even though the world around me is changing before my eyes.

So why do so many who were raised in the church seem to choose to be on the outs with God? Has the reverence and truth about God changed so much that personal happiness and personal fulfillment means more to them than a relationship with Jesus Christ? Has the truth of scripture been replaced by science, ideologies, philosophies and opinions?

I have known several who were raised in the church who have recanted their faith in God. They site many excuses for why they do not believe anymore. Also, I have known some who say, “you can believe in God and not go to church.” And, I have known others to say, “I just don’t believe in that God stuff anymore.” All excuses have one thing in common, whether people who say them realize it or not and that is, they have been hurt in some way by someone and they point their fingers in blame at them and say, “You are the reason that I don’t believe anymore.”

The truth about this changing world is that former church-goer’s have decided that “reason,” in this case why one should not to believe in God, is more important to them in the present moment in how they should live their lives. Now those who walked away from the church believe that the pursuit of personal happiness and personal self worth means more than being worried about “where I am going to spend eternity” and a God they are not sure that they believe in anymore. It is the here and now that is most important to former church-goers.

There was a time in our recent past when most people who would become a Christian would do so before the age of eighteen. I believe this is changing, largely because of the deterioration of the not so biblical christian family, and I believe you will start seeing more and more people coming to Christ later in life, if at all. So unless revival comes to our land soon this trend is probably not going to change mainly because there are less and less Christian homes where there are parents, a mom and a dad, who are committed to their relationship with Jesus Christ. Unfortunately in today’s world it is grandparents, or a grandparent, who are raising their grandchildren because the child’s parents, for whatever reason, are unable to do so.

There is hope . . . and it does begin with prayer.

There were two farmers, who they and their families, were church-goers. A long drought came over the land in which they farmed. They both decided to pray that God would send the much needed rain to the land. The first farmer prayed and waited for the rain to come. The second farmer prayed and while he waited for the rain to come, he then got on his tractor and plowed his land. Which farmer was preparing to receive from God?

Praying for our children and spouse to come back to God and His church is an empty prayer if you are not preparing to receive from God. Waiting on the Lord does not mean praying and sitting around to see what God will do. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). In this case, praying is believing what you ask for is what God wants you to have and preparing to receive it. Praying for someone to come back to God is what God wants, but the person who is doing the praying has to be preparing to receive it. Often the preparing to receive from God comes by our example in how we talk and treat others in love and truth. It is by our changed life in Christ and the Heavenly Father drawing people to His Son that others will see the need for Christ. It is then your prayers are answered even if they chose not to come back to God or enter into a relationship with Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

Prayers can strongly influence the free will of a wayward love one. You can receive from God with the confidence in knowing that your prayers were heard and answered. By your example of living the changed life in Christ, you have successfully prepared to receive from God. God made His presence, influence and truth known to the son, daughter, parent, spouse, family member, friend and the lost who is living their life without God. But the choice, to come back to God or accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, is theirs alone to make not ours. God hurts just like you do, when people choose to live their life without Him. Science, ideologies, philosophies, and opinions can’t save you, only Jesus can (John 14:6).

So never give up on praying for others...it is how God moves in their lives, whether they realize it or not.

reflections, faith, prayer

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