“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ But He called back, ‘Believe Me, I don’t know you!’ So, you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.” (Matthew 25:10-13 NLT)
The above verses are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible, yet the majority of people walking the pathways of planet earth today have no clue who Jesus is, let alone that they have a responsibility to open their heart and life to Him. And here’s the tragedy, not simply that they’re lost, without a Savior, and without hope of eternal life, they have friends and loved ones who know Jesus who believe by some mysterious act of God, their faithfulness to Jesus will somehow translate into salvation for their lost friends and loved ones.
Yes, of course, it’s vital that we live faithful, pure, and consistent godly lives before our loved ones, and those in our spheres of influence, but our faith alone will never be adequate for the salvation of another person. No one comes to Christ by osmosis. They, as we, must open their heart and life to the Lord, individually, by personal decision. But therein lies the problem. Most of them have no clue as to how to do that. If they knew and truly had the desire, it would already have happened.
They may view our lives with respect and admiration, even perhaps a bit of envy that we seem to have a life that they would like to have, but they don’t understand what it is, let alone know how to have it. Yet they’re reluctant to ask us how to have the life we’ve come to take for granted. What’s the answer? We must respond by being open in three specific ways.
Ron Hutchcraft shared these three “open” statements that were just too good not to pass on to you. They’re what Ron calls his three “open” prayers. First, ask the Lord to “open a door.” That simply means, ask the Lord to open a door of opportunity to share the life that is within you as a child of God with someone in your spheres of influence.
Paul writes in Colossians 1:25-27: “God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming, His entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.” What’s Paul saying? To know Christ is to share in the responsibility of sharing Him with others. So, the first step is asking the Lord to open a door of opportunity to share Him with someone.
The second step is asking the Lord to “open their heart” to Him. It’s pointless to share if the Lord is not working in the other person’s life, and He won’t work where He’s not invited. Without believing prayer, the Spirit has no invitation to stir another person’s heart to even listen to what we have to say.
Then, lastly, ask the Lord to “Open MY heart!” As much as we might want to share, feel we have an important message to share and even a desire to share it, without the Spirit’s leading we’ll fall flat on our face. Sharing our faith in the Lord Jesus is a faith venture that depends completely on the Holy Spirit from start to finish. Perhaps you’ve never fully understood that it’s your responsibility as a believer in Jesus to share, or you’ve known you should, but haven’t understood how to do it.
Just use this simple guide to let the Spirit empower you to obey the Lord and trust Him every step as you share what the Lord has done and is doing in your life, and what He can do in theirs. You don’t have to be a Theologian to say: “Before I met Christ my life was like this… This is how I came to know Him… And this is how my life has changed since inviting Him to become the Lord of my life.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 