Coffee With The Lord

Who have you promised that you’d pray for them? Follow up question: Who have you actually prayed for today?

I’m married to a wonderful lady – Sharon… She takes promises to pray for others very seriously! She has a list she keeps in her Bible of those who have asked her for prayer and others she’s assured of her prayers. At the close of her devotional time in the morning you’ll see her with that list, going over those names and situations, in fervent, sustained prayer! You can depend on Sharon’s prayers!!!

In today’s passage from the epistles in the “Necessary Food Bible Reading Plan” Apostle Paul the great Christian leader, missionary and theologian, appeals to the believers in Rome to pray for him! (Romans 15:30-33)…

This is how he puts it… “STRIVE together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf!” (A very strong, and if you please “fervent” word!) He appeals by “our Lord Jesus Christ” and by the love the Holy Spirit produces within their lives (cp. Galatians 5:22-23)! … His appeal is that they would pray for three things on His behalf…

1) That he would be delivered from “the unbelievers in Judea” (a prayer for protection in the midst of persecution as he is seeking to deliver the Gospel message in the face of resistance and persecution… (check out the example he gives of this in Thessalonica – Acts 17:1-15) Faithful “servants of the Lord” serving in difficult places and facing challenging situations DEPEND on our prayers!

2) That the service he is seeking to provide on behalf of the Christians in Jerusalem would be considered “acceptable” by those receiving it and accepted with thanksgiving. (Romans 15:22-29)

3) And finally that he would be able to come to them for a visit (and ministry) with joy and be blessed by their fellowship!

LISTEN: Spiritual leader and missionaries DEPEND on our prayers on their behalf!!! My suggestion? Make a list like Sharon’s and pray for the needs (and persons) there daily (I have!). And be prepared to respond with fervent prayer as the Holy Spirit “nudges” you (His “nudge” often lets us know of an emergency or particular situation that merits our fervent prayer).

Sometimes we wonder whether prayer really works – whether God actually hears our prayers and answers them. Well, perhaps we should ask Hezekiah, king of Judah, and let him answer that question!

Sennacherib, king of Assyria (the most powerful nation in the world at that time) had attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. Next on his list was Jerusalem. Assyria was notorious for their cruelty in war – the mention of their name struck terror in nations. In Isaiah 36, Sennacherib taunts Hezekiah, belittles Jehovah, and sends a threatening letter. Hezekiah reads the letter, goes up to the temple of the Lord, spreads it out before the Lord and prays, pouring out the anguish of his heart to the Lord. You should read his prayer – in many ways a pattern prayer. (Isaiah 37.14-20)

Then this is what the Bible says… “Then Isaiah (the prophet), son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: BECAUSE YOU HAVE PRAYED TO ME… Who is it you, Sennacherib, have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! … But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. And because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came!’ … “Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

“Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning–there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there! One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.” (From Isaiah 37 NIV)

Hey, do you have a problem that is bigger than you are – a situation that seems impossible and almost paralyzes you with fear? You might want to take it to the Lord in prayer! Just say’n! 

My great delight over the years has been to work with a generation of young, emerging leaders with an apostolic passion, vision and “Spirit” (and I do mean the Holy Spirit – not simply their human spirit!)

I have had the wonderful privilege of helping them identify their gifting, urging them to listen for God’s voice and respond to their calling, and assist them in developing their skills in communicating the gospel and learning how to “make disciples of all nations” in the power of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t get much better than that!!

As I read an expression of Paul’s passion and vision in Romans 15.20 this morning during my time of “Coffee with the Lord, I thought of many of them. Paul said, “MY AMBITION HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS WHERE THE NAME OF CHRIST HAS NEVER BEEN HEARD, RATHER THAN WHERE A CHURCH HAS ALREADY BEEN STARTED BY SOMEONE ELSE.” (New Living Translation)

To serve the Lord in revitalizing and leading an established and existing congregation is a noble task – I’ve done it, believe in it, and applaud those doing it! But I also praise God for those who embrace the “apostolic passion” and expressed preference of Apostle Paul – identifying pockets of unreached people, taking the gospel to them and then making disciples of them. Their spiritual passion and DNA is “the nations!” – the “peoples of the world” (and for the Greek buffs – “ta ethne!”) I am convinced those who do it are helping us prepare for the coming of the Lord!! “AND THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM WILL BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD AS A TESTIMONY TO ALL NATIONS, AND THEN THE END WILL COME.” (Matt 24:14 ESV)

So my encouragement to those with an “apostolic passion” like Apostle Paul’s today… Go for it!! Let the Lord give you your passion and vision! Lift up your eyes and look upon the harvest, trust God to give you creative strategies, and go for it in the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit!! He promises to be right there with you!!