“My prayer is not for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You. All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory.” (John 17:9 NLT)
Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but God knows things we don’t know, including who will and will not be saved. This can be confusing, because we’re quick to believe if God knows it, where is our free-will to make our own decision? That’s the beauty of God’s knowledge; He knows the decision we will make because He is present with us when we make it. He is ever-present.
It’s not that He convinces us to make a choice against our will, He simply sits quietly, patiently, and lovingly in our presence as we make the decision, whatever it is, in accordance with our own will and desires. The point for our purposes today is there are people in our spheres of influence – family, friends, co-workers, classmates, neighbors, people we meet from day to day who are still uncertain as to what to do with Jesus.
Some because they have no frame of reference, or because they’ve never heard of Jesus, others because they’ve had a bad experience with “religion”, still others because they lack understanding of what it means or how to make that commitment. Whatever the reason people are separated from a relationship with Jesus, often the key “link” to Him is a person who knows Jesus, knows them, and cares about their eternal wellbeing.
In a quote I read many years ago a Dick Eastman stated: “Behind the saving grace of every believer is someone praying.” How does that translate? If we as believers aren’t specifically praying for lost people, how will they ever come to Christ? There are many people for whom I pray each day by name, but there are many others across the world whose names I don’t know, so I lift them to the Lord by need or by location.
For example, I lift many of my family members to the Lord by name, including those who are lost, specifically asking the Lord to open their heart to Him. But lately the Lord has encouraged me to add something to my prayer. Because most of them live in other cities and I have limited access to them, I’m asking the Lord to put someone in their life who loves Him and will love them to Him. Someone they can relate to, someone they will like and enjoy their friendship, but someone who is deeply in love with Jesus.
My prayer is basically that the Lord will put someone in that lost person’s life for whom I’m praying who will be a connecting link to Jesus. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.” We never know for sure what our role may be, whether to plant the seed, water it, or bring it to harvest by God’s Spirit. We’re all simply “links” in the process. Our temptation is to believe “That’s someone else’s job!” But here’s the truth – that’s NEVER our decision to make. That’s God’s judgment alone. He can choose even a donkey to speak for Him if He chooses, so, what makes us think He can’t use us?
As believers in the Lord Jesus, the Lord has strategically placed us where we are: in the family, workplace, school, neighborhood, age bracket, social circles we’re in for a very specific purpose – there are people in those circles who need to know Him and He’s placed us in those circles to pray for them and point them to Him. There are likely more, but there’s at least one person in our spheres of influence who is waiting for someone like you or me to reach out to them. Let’s not miss an opportunity to invite them to Jesus.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 