Evangelism
starts with Prayer
I
Timothy 2:1-6
What a week in world-wide events – the bomb plot in London on Thursday,
storms in Northern Texas and Oklahoma that have claimed 11 lives this past week.
Oklahoma City had rain yesterday for the 18th straight day, which is four
days longer than the previous record, set in 1937.
And more t-storms are predicted for today.
Wednesday morning, Iran erupted in riots with enraged citizens throughout
the country revolting against gas rationing by burning dozens of gas stations,
looting government_owned businesses, government banks, police vehicles, mass
transit buses and chain stores.
Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world.
Friday evening on e-bay an all week auction ended for the privilege of
having lunch with Warren at a Manhattan steakhouse.
How much would you pay for the privilege of lunch with the 76_year_old
chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc?
The highest bidder agreed to pay $650,100.
And that’s only for lunch! Not
the afternoon, not dinner, just lunch. Probably
hamburgers! The good thing is that
Buffett donates the money to the Glide Foundation, a church affiliated
non_profit group in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that helps serve poor
and homeless people.
According to icasualties.org the number of military fatalities has not
gone down. The numbers are, 86 in
January, 84 in February, 82 in March, 117 in April, 131 in May, and 108 this
month. The number of Iraqis who
have died in the war is declining. In
February of this year there were 3014, in March, 2977, in April 1821, in May,
1980, and this past month, 1275. Those
are still incredibly high numbers, but at least they are declining.
There were a record 140 car bombs in May and 135 in April. But this
month, the number has dropped to 70, plus 18 that were discovered before they
were detonated, according to the U.S. military.
Beginning this afternoon, Russian president, Vladimir Putin is going to
knock on the front door of the Bush stone and shingle summer home in
Kennebunktport, Maine and spend a day talking to the president and former
president.
And Paris Hilton was released from a Los Angeles jail on Tuesday after
serving 23 days for driving with a suspended license, and said that she had
become more spiritual.
Wednesday is the 4th of July and we are celebrating the 231st
anniversary of our amazing experiment of liberty and justice for all, as
specified in the declaration of independence.
July fourth is intended to be a patriotic day.
Flags, ceremonies, national anthems, fireworks.
What does it mean to be patriotic? What
is a good citizen? If nothing else,
Christians ought to be good citizens, ought to be patriotic.
Especially in America Christians ought to be patriotic, because our
heritage is such a clear work of God.
Let me ask the question this way: “what are you going to do Wednesday
that you would term “Patriotic?” Waving
flags? Bumper stickers that declare, “America, love it or leave
it?” I would like to emphasize
one thing we should do this week that is patriotic. It’s a rather unusual command, especially for Americans.
It’s a command to pray. And
it links prayer with peace.
I’m speaking about evangelism and outreach this month.
And I have a couple of goals. One
is that each one of us have the opportunity this month to share our testimony
with someone who doesn’t know the Lord. Wouldn’t
that be a great thing, if every one of us shared the gospel, or shared our
testimony, or shared a tract this month with someone we know isn’t a believer?
Perhaps you say, “but that’s not my style.
I don’t do that, and I don’t think that I can do that.”
Here’s my answer today, from the Bible.
It starts with prayer. You
ask God to do it through you. You
ask God to use you to help someone else spiritually.
I believe that evangelism begins by praying.
I believe that people come to Christ when we talk to God about them
before we talk to them about God. People
come to Christ because of the work of God, not because we are persuasive.
They come to Christ because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, not
because we put them on a guilt trip. We pray the Lord of the harvest that He
will send out laborers into His harvest. We
pray to the One who is not willing that anyone perish that He open the eyes of
those who have been blinded to the glory of Christ.
It all begins with prayer. So
the first question on evangelism is “are you interested in someone else coming
to know the Lord?” Do you love
them enough to want them saved? OK.
The question is, “have you prayed for them?” “Do you have them on your prayer list?”
How do you know who you really want to come to know the Lord?
By noticing who you are praying for.
Peter Marshall prayed, “Forgive
us for thinking that prayer is a waste of time and help us to see that without
prayer, our work is a waste of time.” I think evangelism begins with three
kinds of prayers, revealed in three commands.
I.
Pray globally.
Paul
gives these directions to Timothy: Therefore
I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one
God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who
gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. . .(I Timothy
2:1-6).
Verse 2 says that one of the results of our prayers is that we live a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
Notice the command – make prayer first.
Not only first in a line of six or eight other things, but first in
importance. The issue of most importance in any church, in any life, is
prayer. Remember when Jesus drove
the money changers out of the temple after His triumphal entry and said to them,
“is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all
nations?’” That’s the heart of God. Not
only a house where all nations can come and pray, but a house where prayer is
made for all nations. Make global
prayer the central focus of church life.
Why this command? Why pray
globally? I can think of at least two good reasons.
A. Because God is at work
in world events. As of
Wednesday, Iran, an oil-rich country, started rationing petrol nationwide – 26
gallons per month is all anyone gets. The
announcement apparently came unexpectedly on Tuesday which brought chaos on
Teheran's streets as drivers rushed to gas stations to fill their tanks before
the start of the rationing. By
Wednesday morning riots broke out in the capital, Teheran.
They spread to other cities with the result that the chief of gas
stations in Iran told the state_run media that nearly 30 percent of all gas
stations in the country were destroyed or severely damaged.
And apparently government forces have opened fire and killed some of the
protesters.
Why? God is putting the
squeeze on Iran. Although they
produce 4.2 million barrels of oil a day, and are the world’s fourth largest
exporter of oil, they have to import most of their gasoline, because they has
built no refineries – in the last 28 years.
They spend 5_8 billion dollars annually bringing gas in – and they are
running out of money. Inflation has hit badly.
The prices of dairy products have gone up by as much as 25 percent this
past week. In many areas, housing
prices have gone up as much as 30 percent since last Tuesday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005 on promises that he
would put more of Iran’s oil wealth on the tables of ordinary Iranians. During
the election campaign, he toured cities and towns, promising a new high school
here, a municipal swimming pool there, a new factory, a new gymnasium, rural
development, whatever. Apparently
he has done very little, if anything – other than creating a large group of
citizens who want him eliminated.
Who would have thought that
this extremely confident looking man, who promises that he is going to wipe
God’s chosen people, Israel, off the map, would be so incompetent at home?
It’s just an indication that God is at work in Iran. And we participate in His work over there by praying for
Iran, the leaders, including the religious president, that God will awaken
people to His glory.
How does God do this with leaders who are uninterested in Him, who are
Muslims, or Hindus, or Atheists? Remember
Nebuchadnezzar? One of history’s
greatest kings – and yet God was at work interrupting his sleep, making him
miserable with dreams, turning him
into a helpless wild man who ate grass for several years.
Think of Pharaoh, Cyrus. God
has no trouble keeping proud leaders awake at night, worrying them about
enigimas that they can’t resolve. Warren
Wiersbe says, "You and I have such a low view of the sovereignty of God
that we don't really believe that, when we pray for people in authority, God can
work. If the truth were known, we'd
find out that the machinery of the world is run by prayer.
That's what Andrew Murray wrote: `God rules the world by the prayers of
his saints'" (Something happens when churches pray, 74).
B. Because God desires
all to come to know Him. Verse 3 says,
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior.”“ What is good and acceptable in the sight of God?
To pray for the world. To
pray for leaders all over the world. To
pray for the salvation of every person on this globe.
How do you please God? By
interrupting your activities to pray globally.
It’s nice to know what the will of God is for your life.
What is His will? There is
no question that His will is for you to pray globally.
That is His will. Why do we
pray in this passage? Because
prayer (3) is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” because
He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Somehow our prayers are wrapped up in the salvation of the
lost. It’s not an issue of our
prayers overcoming God’s reluctance; He desires all to be saved.
But our prayers are somehow a part of His plan to reach out to the world.
That’s why the Lord’s prayer begins with God’s interests –
“Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is
done in heaven.” One of our goals
tonight as we hold our first “prayer concert” is simply to learn a little
more about the Middle east and join God in His work over there.
And what is He doing over there? Here
is His rather recent work: this story came in the mail last week from an unnamed
Muslim country (written by a Christian worker).
“About four weeks ago, we were very busy working on the landscape in
our Center. The sun was high in the
sky. A hot breezeless afternoon.
Then a young man came to me and said he wanted to have an audience with
me. I directed him to see one of my
co-workers. But he insisted it was
personal. He said he has been
looking for me for over two weeks. I
reluctantly went to my office with him. Then he introduced himself.
“Ahmed” is about 33 years old, from a strong Muslim background.
He had memorized the whole Koran by age 11, and later became a Koranic
instructor. Currently, he is one of
the best musicians in the region. His
music is always heard blaring over the FM stations.
He is very popular.”
But even though he was so successful, he was not happy.
He lacked peace and was looking for meaning in life, looking for God.
He doubted if God was real, and his life became more and more miserable.
His wife divorced him; he lost all that he had.
He said, “I am like cotton, I go wherever the wind blows me, I am
confused, I am afraid.”
He began to ask God to speak to him if He was real.
He would spend days in his room without going out.
One day he had a bad dream. A
huge man appeared to him in the dream and said he had to cut off his head and
put on a new one. He was holding a
long sword with a cross on the handle. Ahmed
was horrified. When he awoke he
realized that the man meant taking off his Muslim head and replacing it with a
Christian head. The man wanted him
to become a Christian. But he saw
no way that could happen. He could
never become an infidel. He would
be ostracized, maybe even killed. He
became extremely worried and afraid. He
could not bring shame to his family and community.
He would never be forgiven by his family and friends if he became a
Christian. He would instantly cease
to be a family member, and would lose all rights of inheritance and privileges.
The more he tried to forget the dream, the more vividly it came back to
him. He lacked peace.
He could not sleep at night. He
became restless.
“Then he started looking for me,” the writer said.
With a worried face he said, “I want to be a Christian, can you help me
to be a Christian?”
I shared with him God’s way of salvation through Jesus Christ.
That day he gave his life to Christ.
With a smile on his face, he said, “even if I die poor, I am happy,
because I know where I am going.” I
gave him a New Testament and told him to memorize Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. He came the next day full of smiles and recited the three
chapters.
For the past four weeks he has attended all our services.
He sings beautiful songs to honor the Lord Jesus.
He wants to be an evangelist. But
his life is at risk. Being a
popular musician, Muslim leaders may harm him.
He can be poisoned. So we
have asked him to keep a low profile for the next few months as we seek the face
of the Lord to know the next step to take.
Pray that Ahmed’s faith might grow and that he might become rooted in
the Word of God. Pray that he will find innovative ways to use his talents to
spread the gospel of Jesus. Pray
for his protection, and that many others might follow him and come to Christ.
Why has this man come to the Lord? I
am convinced it has something to do with the fact that a believer has obeyed the
Lord and prayed for his country, someone has prayed for this Christian leader
who has moved there to serve the Lord. And
God has worked.
It’s interesting to hear of the rustling of the leaves in Muslim trees.
Something is going on in Sudan, a Muslim country.
Mark Hallaron is going to Sudan because of an unusual turning to Christ
among those people with many Muslims coming to Christ.
And our privilege is to give a little of our time to pray for them.
Tonight we are going to pray for the Middle East.
Lyn Brown will be here to give us some insight into life in Iraq so we
can pray with more understanding.
II.
Pray for witnesses.
Jesus gave this command in Matthew 9:38 "Therefore pray the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
The command is to pray because our prayers have some connection with who
goes out into the harvest. We pray
that God will awaken believers to the tremendous opportunities before them –
that God wants to use them to reach people with the great news of salvation.
So who do we pray for? One
another. The ones that God wants to
send out into the harvest are you and me. We
are not just praying for designated missionaries.
We are to pray for undesignated missionaries – like us.
You pray that I have boldness and I pray that you will have boldness and
wisdom to share the gospel.
I find it interesting that in the next verse Jesus does exactly what He
commanded His disciples to pray about: He sends out laborers.
Here’s the way it reads: “And
when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all
kinds of disease. . .” and then 10:5 continues, “These twelve Jesus sent out
and commanded them, saying: ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do
not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.'”
The disciples weren’t professional prophets at that time.
They were laymen who were following Christ – fishermen, an IRS agent. He turns around and sends them out as witnesses.
I’m sure they felt unprepared; I’m sure they were nervous about the
project. But Jesus wasn’t worried
about them, because He was sending His power (the Holy Spirit) with them.
I think He wants to do the same thing with all of us, no matter how
unqualified we feel.
So when we pray for witnesses, we pray for missionaries, and for one
another – and then we pray that God will send us to someone needy with whom we
can share the good news.
What are you praying for in evangelism?
Have you ever prayed that God would lead you to someone with whom you
could share the gospel? I am
praying that every one of us might have the opportunity to share our testimony
with someone that we haven’t shared it with before.
Would you pray to that end?
Hudson Taylor, the missionary who opened China for the gospel back in the
19th century, had to leave China and go back to England because of
his health, or lack of it. The
doctors in England didn’t think he would ever be well enough to go back to
China. So he stayed in England and
translated the New Testament into Chinese and prayed that God would send five
new missionaries back to China. God
answered by sending out three men and two women.
Next Taylor began praying for two missionaries to go to each of the 11
inland provinces and two to go to Mongolia – 24 in all.
And God sent out 24 missionaries, which included Hudson and his wife,
Maria and their children. There
were now 29 missionaries in China. What
did Hudson do? The then asked for
Lord for 70 new workers in the next three years.
In three years there were 78 that came out to help.
Then in 1887, Hudson asked for 100 missionaries that year.
And God supplied 102. So
Hudson asked God for 1000 missionaries in five years.
And in five years, 1153 missionaries went out to China.
What does the testimony of Hudson Taylor say to us?
“You have not because you ask not” is the way James 4:2 states it.
God wants to supply in answer to our prayers.
Pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into His harvest.
It all begins with prayer. Thus
the first question on evangelism is “are you interested in people coming to
know the Lord?” “Have you
prayed that God would send out witnesses to them?”
God works in response to our prayer.
III.
Pray for unbelievers.
God is at work in the hearts of unbelievers.
The fact is that we are a “royal priesthood” as Peter says.
This means that each of us is a designated priest.
A priest is one who goes between God and a human being.
A mediator. As priests we
have the privilege of working with God to bring His wonderful truth and goodness
to people who don’t have it. How
do we do that? John 14:14: “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Notice what that verse says. (1)
We can’t do it. This
isn’t, “if you can’t do it, ask me for help.”
This verse starts by acknowledging God as the only sufficient One.
Our expectation for anything in terms of helping others, comes from God.
(2) God has somehow connected His response on earth to the requests He
hears from His designated priests. They
are like the firefighters in the forest, calling in and saying, “we need more
water over here on the north side of the mountain.”
Evangelism has to be the work of God.
It is not our work. But
through prayer we get to see what God is doing.
We participate as much as we want through our prayers.
Who do we pray for? We can
pray for millions of people. We can
go through the phone book and pray for names randomly.
But our first responsibility is to pray for those of our family who
don’t know Christ. That’s why
God has placed us in that family, to live for Jesus as an example and to give
witness to members of the family. In
Romans 9 and 10, Paul’s desire for his Jewish brothers is that they come to
know Christ. Then our responsibility is to our neighbors, to pray for them and
demonstrate the love of Christ to them. Then
people we are connected to through school or work or sports, etc. What we are praying for is that people will see
There you have what I believe are the three kinds of prayer – global
prayer, prayer for God to send out witnesses, and prayer for individuals.
Evangelism begins as you pray, as I pray, as we pray together. Let me make two suggestions:
1. Write down requests.
Keep a list of countries, witnesses, and unbelievers to pray for. Then at some time during the day, stop what you are doing to
concentrate fully on prayer.
2. Pray with someone else.
Commitments are almost always best accomplished with others, or with some
kind of accountability to others. I
can get here at 6 am to pray – if I know that someone else is going to show up
and needs my key to get into the building. But without that pressure, I can’t make myself get here at 6
am.
I would encourage you to join with us in our scheduled times for prayer:
Wednesday evenings at 7 pm, men on Saturday morning at 8 am and 6 am Tuesday or
Thursdays.
I am repeatedly encouraged by these paragraphs by Lewis Sperry Chafer,
the former president of Dallas Seminary: "The marvelous, and so little
experienced, movings of the Spirit upon the unsaved are at the command of the
least of God's children, if that one be cleansed; for such a believer is a
priest unto God, and no limitation of times and seasons is set in the NT upon
his intercession” (L. S. Chafer, True Evangelism, 1919, 92)
I would love to see every one of us experience the work of God in our
lives this month by being able to share the gospel with someone else.
I am praying that each of us will experience that joy.
And I am asking you to commit yourself to prayer.
Will you pray? Will you pray
with others? You know that you are
committed to God’s kingdom, not by what you say about it in church, but by the
amount of time you have set aside to focus on the King and His Kingdom.
07/01/07, BBC am