Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
September 29, 2002
Persisting in Prayer Until They are Saved
Colossians 4:2-6
I Thess. 5:17
INTRODUCTION: At the time Paul wrote these words he was in prison in Rome. You would think that this would have been a down time for him as far as seeing people come to Christ. Paul, however, was able to continue his work not only during the best of times but also in the most unfavorable circumstances in which he found himself. He had a real desire to get the good news out to people because of what the Lord had done in his own life. He had a genuine experience. His life was different now. How could he not tell people wherever he went about how God’s grace had come to him and want them to have it too. Paul had learned how to operate in all kinds of circumstances as he shared his faith, and God honored that commitment as he continued to speak boldly.
Today’s scripture has much to say to us about persisting in prayer until people come to know Christ, but there is much more included in these few verses than we see at first glance . Let’s see what we can get out of today’s scripture that will help us share our faith more effectively in the week ahead.
1. The Importance of Prayer: The importance of prayer in seeing people come to Christ is often minimized today in our fast-paced society. That is probably why people are not moved by the message. Their hearts have not been prepared first by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to see their need. Don’t need to go to church, don’t need the Lord. I can handle it by myself.
STORY: A group of businessmen were flying in an aircraft when there was a sudden decompression. The oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, and the plane began to scream towards the ground.
One of the men lifted the mask from his face for a moment, and shouted across the aisle, "Hey! Jerry! You used to go to Sunday School when you were a boy! Say a prayer for us! Please!"
"Don’t be stupid!" shouted Jerry. "The last time I prayed was twenty years ago!"
But his business companions insisted that Jerry should pray. "All right," said Jerry. "O Lord, I haven’t bothered You for the last twenty years. And if You get us out of this fix, I promise You, Lord, I won’t bother You for the NEXT twenty years!"
Paul didn’t think he had any need of the gospel either until he was confronted on the Damascus Road that day. His heart had been prepared to receive. Prayer is necesary if we are to see people’s hearts prepared to receive the truth because up until that point they are blinded. II Corinthians 4:3,4 says, “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 should shine into them.”
Paul therefore says, “Devote yourselves to prayer
Be earnest in
Be persistent in
Be active in
Be unwearied
Be intent on
Do not let prayer slide by in your day. Matthew Henry says, “Keep up your constant time of prayer without being diverted from it by other business.”
STORY: A woman came to a missionary at Bengalore, India, asking him to interfere and prevent a certain native Christian from praying for her any more. When asked how she knew that the Christian was praying for her, she replied, "I used to perform my worship to the idols quite comfortably, but for some time past I have not been able to do so. Besides, he told me at the time that he was praying for my family, and now my son and two daughters have become Christians. If he goes on praying, he may make me, too, become a Christian. He is always bringing things to pass with his prayers. Somebody must make him stop." -- SELECTED
The Thessalonian scripture says to pray continually or pray without ceasing. This does not mean non-stop praying but rather recurring prayer throughout the day--lifting our hearts to God while we are going about our daily routine. You don’t have to have your eyes closed or be kneeling in prayer every time you pray. You can pray when you are driving your car--and you better not have your eyes closed! The point is that prayer should be a spontaneous part of your everyday life--it should be important enough to you that you would be
earnest, persistent, active
Matthew Henry said “Prayer will punctuate one’s daily schedule.” Continue to pray and thank the Lord for answers. Harry Greenwood always said, “Believe you’ve got it before you get it.” Thank the Lord in advance. Pray on rainy days as well as sunny days. Pray on bad days when everything is going wroing for you as well on days when everything is flowing smoothly.
STORY: Mary came to her mother, and said, "I suppose, up in Heaven, they think I am dead." Her mother replied, "Why, Mary, why do you suppose they think you are dead?" "Well," said the little girl, "because I have not said my prayers for a week." Gary Bowell p.250
2. Open Opportunities: Paul prayed that God would open doors of opportunity for him to speak to others aobut Christ. In I Corinthians 16:9 he said, “a great door and effectual is opened to me.” A great door for EFFECTIVE work has opened to me. Prayer is what makes it EFFECTIVE so that people will not only listen but UNDERSTAND what is being said.
He asked people to pray for him that doors of opportunity would open up for him and that he would make the message understandable. “Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ as PLAIN AS DAY to them,” he said. An open door would be useless if people don’t understand what you are talking about. Paul seemed to have a real concern that people would understand what he was saying. He said, “I want to proclaim the message as clearly as I should. He wanted to make the mystery of redemption clear to people in a worthy manner--to present it in a way that was not going to bring reproach on the name of Christ.
Is this your concern today? Do you have a prayer partner who prays for you that opportunities will open up to speak? Do you pray for someone that they will have opportunities open up?
How do we live up to the opportunities once they open up for us? Paul is saying, “Don’t waste your opportunities. Pick up on them.” “Make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15). Buy up and make the most of every opportunity to share your faith. This goes along with being alert to--being diligent--be awake. Opportunities come and go. Don’t let them slip through your fingers and be wasted.
As we pray for people to receive Christ two other things are included in these verses that we may not have noticed.
SPEECH & CONDUCT:
How to speak and how to act toward people who are not yet Christians.
He says, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders. Let outsiders see that your decision to follow Christ is a wise one--that it has made a difference in your life. He is saying, “Don’t walk in their customs. You will never win someone to Christ by living in the same old worldly, sinful lifestyle as they do. It doesn’t work for them so why should you join in? A Christian never gains anything by living as sinful as those whose eyes have not been opened.
Ephesians 5:8 says “for you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light...have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness...”
Don’t give people an occasion to call you a hypocrite or occasion to say, “Well if they call themselves a Christian, I don’t want to be one.” Or “if they get to heaven, then I KNOW I will.”
Paul says, “walk in wisdom. Do not increase their prejudices against religion and give them an occasion for dislike. Do them all the good you can and in the proper season recommend your faith to them. Let how you live be becoming to a Christian.
Paul’s words imply that believers are to avoid needlessly antagonizing or alienating people. Conduct yourself in a way that will attract, impress, and convict non-Christians and give the community a favorable impression of the gospel.
And then he says when you open your mouth and speak be GRACIOUS in your speech--
don’t put people down
don’t be rude
don’t act like you are superior to people
be pleasant
Let your speech be seasoned with salt. That means--it gives flavor and it preserves.
Both are valuable assets for Christians in order to commend their message to others. Part of the right flavoring consists of suiting your conversation to the hearers. Being able to choose the best means of answering questions about your faith is important to understanding.
I Peter 3:15 says, “Be ready to always give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason.” What is appropriate for one person may not be for another. How do you answer questions and objections to the faith? Are you able to give the reasons for your faith? Titus 2:8 says “In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”
3. Putting it into Practice: How do we apply this scripture to our individual lives? What principles do you want to build into your life as you relate to nonbelievers? How do you start to pray more effectively for those who don’t yet know Christ? How do we do our part to see people saved?
STORY:There is a story told about a faithful old deacon whose often repeated prayer expression was, "O Lord, touch the unsaved with Thy finger." One prayer meeting night he was leading in prayer when he abruptly stopped praying. Supposing he had been taken suddenly ill, someone went to him and asked if there was anything wrong, if he were ill. "No," he replied, "I’m not ill. But something seemed to say to me, ’Thou art the finger’." --Selected
In order to pray for people in a proper way you should keep a record of who you are specifically praying for. How do you decide who to add to this list? You can’t pray effectively for a lot of people at once. It is too general.
1. Ask: Allow God to put the names of those He wishes to save in your heart. When these names are in your heart you will have more of a concern to pray for them. There used to be a song that said, “Lord lay some soul upon my heart and love that soul through me, and may I ever do my part to win that soul to thee.”
Ask God specifically for a few names this week. Out of all your family members, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, a few names will spontaneously come to your mind. You will have a feeling for them and you will want them to be saved first.
2. Write them down. Add the date and the name. Leave a space for they date they come to the Lord. Once you have a name in your record book don’t give up praying for that person until you see something happen. It is not certain when a person will come to Christ. Some don’t take long. Others may take years.
3. Ask the Lord to open doors. to show you what to say and what not to say. Ask the Lord to deal with that person in the exact way they can understand the message.
Conclusion: 1. Prayer is vitally important to prepare people for receiving Christ. Make it a priority.
2. The Lord will open doors of opportunity. We must open our eyes for them and don’t waste them.
3. We must be a Christian in our conduct and speech toward others.
4. We need to ask the Lord for specific people to pray consistently for.
Prayer: “Lord, out of all the people I know, place those on my heart that I should pray for. I am encouraged by Your Word and thank You for answering my prayers concerning my friends and family. Draw many to Yourself because I have been faithful to persist in prayer until they are saved.” Amen
