Let’s Get Specific

Let’s Get Specific!Since this month’s features are about prayer, I’d like to look at one of the Bible’s most challenging prayer verses: “Pray that the Word of the Lord may ... spread rapidly ... and triumph” (2 Th. 3:1 AMP.). God actually calls us to pray for the rapid spread of the gospel. And today more than ever, technology makes it possible to spread the Good News rapidly around the globe, not only by print but also by radio, TV and the Internet. But we are not just asked to pray for the rapid spread of the Word, but also that the Word would triumph - that is, that souls would be saved. After all, it is through the spread of that incorruptible seed, God’s Word, that we are born again (1 Pet. 1:23). The question then is, how should we pray to accomplish this? While God hears our general prayers, the Lord’s own prayer in John 17 shows us that we become much more involved in the process of answered prayer when we pray specifically. But how can we do this? We can start by praying for unsaved people we actually know. And here are ten specifics to pray for: That God draws them to Christ (Jn. 6:44);
That they desire to know God (Acts 17:27);
That they believe the Bible (1 Th. 2:13);
That Satan not blind them to the truth (2 Cor. 4:4);
That the Spirit works in them (Jn. 16:13);
That He sends someone to lead them to Christ (Mt. 9:38);
That they turn from sin (Acts 3:19);
That they openly confess Christ as Savior (Rom. 10:9-10);
That they yield all to follow Him (2 Cor 5:15);
That they take root and grow in Christ (Col. 2:6-7). What a blessing to be a prayer partner in the specifics of God’s salvation process! He may not use us to directly lead these souls to Christ, but He delights to hear and answer our specific prayers on their behalf (Pr. 15:8; Ps. 91:15). By Larry Ondrejack