My unfinished reading list includes:

• Preaching That Connects by Mark Galli and Craig Brian Larson
• Ministry Momentum by Wayne Schmidt
• One Size Doesn’t Fit All by Gary L. McIntosh
• Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels
• Smart Fishing by John Hendee
• Disciplemaker’s Handbook by Alice Fryling
• Winning With People by John C. Maxwell
• Holiness and the Human Element by H.A. Baldwin

Questions for you…

1. Do you have a regular reading plan to stimulate your growth as a Christian and/or church leader?
2. What good books do you suggest I (or another) should add to this (his or her) list?

Why is it that people who can be so incredibly intelligent, talented, and so perceptive concerning some aspects of life can be so incredibly blind to spiritual truth? It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? For example, you would think that a scientist who could make all sorts of great scientific discoveries would be able to see the one scientific reality that is staring him in the face – that our wonderful universe had to have had a Creator. But many don’t see to see this obvious fact.

What causes spiritual blindness? I would suggest three reasons.

1. Sinners’ eyes may be blinded due to heart hardness, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18; Matthew 13:15.

I would suggest that heart hardness typically is the result of rebellion against God. Such a person does not want to believe the truth so over time he or she becomes more and more convinced against the truth. While such a person may be very objective about other matters their desire not to consider spiritual truth causes them to be closed to very little, if any, spiritual truth.

Praying for those whose hearts are hardened can be very discouraging. But we can pray confidently for even though the person’s heart may be hard, the Holy Spirit has great convicting and convincing power. Scripture and history provide example after example of how the Holy Spirit has been able to penetrate hardened hearts. Think of Paul walking down the Damascus Road, breathing threats against the Christians. The Holy Spirit reached him, and he can reach your loved one also.

Now, we must realize that in order to reach such a person, the Holy Spirit may have to make this person very miserable. It may be tempting for us to want this loved one not to suffer. But we must faithful to stay out of God’s way as he deals with this person. Let us instead continue to pray faithfully.

2. Sinners’ eyes may be blinded due to Satan’s deception, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.

The Bible calls Satan the father of lies. Truly, Satan has had a long time to hone his skills at this craft. Starting in the Garden of Eden, Satan has tricked person after person into committing sin and turning against God.

The devil is a powerful enemy. We should not underestimate him. However, we serve One who is much greater than Satan. Satan is merely a created being. Jesus Christ is God. He has not been created. He has always existed and always will.

Satan may have considerable power now, but his time is limited. Jesus has all power. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore, as we pray for lost loved ones, we can pray confidently knowing that Christ can shine the light of God’s love even on the one who has been blinded by Satan’s deception.

3. Sinners’ eyes may be blinded due to God’s permission, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.

Of the various causes of spiritual blindness that we are discussing, I believe this is the scariest. I mean, it is one thing to have a hardened heart. Hearts can be softened.  It is one thing to be blinded by Satan’s deception. The Holy Spirit can disallow Satan to blind us any longer. But think about it! What do you say for the person who is blind to the truth because God has allowed it?

Many people have felt great fear about the unpardonable sin. Some have been afraid they have committed this sin. But, as I understand scripture, the unpardonable sin is not some accidental sin that one commits. Rather, the unpardonable sin has to do with an ongoing rebellious attitude and direction that cannot be forgiven because the person will never ask for forgiveness. It is not so much that God cannot forgive this person as it is that this person has so made up their mind against God that they won’t ever ask for forgiveness.

I see a connection in God allowing people to be deceived and the unpardonable sin in that both cases seems to deal with people that God allows to go their own way because they will go no other way. However, while the unpardonable sin may not be forgiven, there is hope for the one whom God has simply allowed to believe spiritual lies. God’s permission does not necessarily indicate that the person has committed an unpardonable sin.

Therefore, I believe we should pray asking God no longer to allow our lost loved one to go deeper in darkness without a witness to the Truth. Let us pray that God would put up roadblocks in the highway of sin so that such people may realize that they are headed the wrong way.

Let us be faithful to continue praying for our lost loved ones. And, let us pray that the Lord would heal their blindness to the Truth. Let us pray that their hearts might be softened, that the devil’s deceptions would be ineffective, and that God would no longer allow the sinner to rush toward Hell without warning.

Romans 10:1-17

As we continue our series on praying for lost loved ones, we find a wonderful, beautiful promise of God in our scripture that should encourage us as we pray. What is this promise? Paul utters it three times.

In verse nine he writes, “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (ESV).

In verse ten he says, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame’” (ESV). And finally in verse thirteen, Paul quotes Joel 2:32 as he says, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (ESV).

Wow! This is a wonderful promise, isn’t it? Such a promise should encourage us during those times in which it seems like our prayers for lost loved ones are going nowhere. Such a promise should challenge us to persevere in prayer.

But notice what Paul then writes in Romans 10:14-15. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed” (ESV)? The prayer for the lost that I want us to consider this evening is the prayer that they would believe in Christ. More accurately, I believe we should pray that the lost would be prepared to believe in Christ.

To pray that someone would make the change from not believing Christ to believing in Christ is huge. But Paul mentions several issues in this verse that could result in faith being impossible for the lost person. What do I mean by this?

Well, continuing on in verses fourteen and fifteen, we read, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent” (ESV)?

I think it would be too strong to say that these questions point at conditions or pre-requisites for a person to have faith in Christ. But these questions do logically note hindrances to saving faith that need to be overcome in order for the unbeliever to be saved.

The first question Paul asks is, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard.” As we pray for unbelievers to be prepared for faith in Christ, we should pray that our lost loved ones would be given opportunities to hear the Good News.

We are privileged here in America because of the great Christian heritage of our nation. We are privileged because of the abundance of churches. Yet while our nation does have a Christian heritage and while many of our fellow citizens have heard the Gospel message, there are many people even in the United States who do not really know much about God or Jesus except as cuss words.

The point is simply this: we should pray that our lost loved ones would be given opportunities to hear the Good News. Now, sometimes Christians have told me that their lost loved one grew up in a Christian home and knows what they need to do in order to be saved. This may be true. However, I am afraid that we don’t realize how spiritually blind sinners can be. I am afraid that many unbelievers who have a Christian heritage have more of a “works” understanding of salvation than that of faith in Christ.

So, I would suggest to you that it is crucial that we pray for our lost loved ones to be given opportunities to hear the Good News. Yes, maybe they have heard the Gospel before, but it does not seem to have penetrated. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will arranged more God-encounters in the hopes for our lost loved ones in hopes that the truth may finally sink in.

The next question Paul asks is, “And how are they to hear without someone preaching” (Romans 10:14, ESV)? We should pray that believers would use their opportunities to share the Good News. While I believe the role of the preacher – whether as pastor, evangelist, missionary, etc. – is very important, I do not believe Scripture is teaching that in order for a person to become a Christian, they must hear a preacher in the sense of having to go to a church service like this in which a preacher preaches and gives an altar call.

Yet this scripture does point out the obvious. Unless the unbeliever hears the Gospel presented in some way – be it through a sermon, a song, a Sunday School lesson, or in conversation with a friend, how will this person ever learn that God loves them, that they are a sinner, and that Jesus died for them?

The problem that plagues the church in America today is that many Christians seem unwilling to share the Good News. There are a variety of reasons why Christians are unwilling to do so. One reason why Christians do not share the Good News with others is that they are afraid of being rejected. It hurts to be rejected. However, if some is unwilling to listen or accept the Good News, the one being rejected truly is not us; it is Christ. Yet, because we are the ones doing the sharing in Christ’s name, it can hurt us as well. But may I suggest that some Christians have never shared the Gospel, not because they have been rejected in the past and it hurt, but because they are fearful of being rejected.

[No Book Data for this Book Number] Several years ago, Thom S. Rainer and a team of researchers surveyed 306 unchurched Americans from a wide variety of areas in which they lived, ethnicities, and income levels. The results they found were often surprising.

When these unchurched people were asked about their attitudes toward the church, 11% had a very friendly attitude, 27% were friendly, 36% were neutral. 21% were resistant and only 5% had an antagonistic attitude toward the church.

How many opportunities do you have to befriend an unchurched person, a neighbor, a coworker, or even a casual acquaintance? Yet most Christians today commit the sin of silence. They use excuses that say they do not want to impose their beliefs on others, that they do not want to offend others, or that the unchurched are not really interested in the church. Our research, however, shows quite the opposite, Many of the unchurched are looking for Christian friends. They are open to an invitation from church. They do want to know what Christians believe. And you could be that person who will make the eternal difference in the life of an unchurched person.” (Rainer 45, 46)

Rainer’s research estimates that there are about 160 million unchurched people in America. This is based on surveys of more than 2,000 people. If the people said they attended church less than five times a year, they were classified as unchurched. With that assumption and the responses gained to this survey, Rainer suggests that “[o]ver 17 million people will accept Christ if presented to the gospel. Another 43 million are close” (Rainer 46).

What is the point? We need to pray that believers will use their opportunities to proclaim the Good News. We need to pray for ourselves that we will not be intimidated by the unknown, but will be faithful to tell others that Jesus loves them and wants to deliver them from sin and give them real hope in life.

We need to pray for fellow Christians, people whom we may never know, but may have an opportunity to speak with our lost loved ones about the Gospel. We need to pray that they will have the courage to speak of Christ. We need to pray for these believers and ourselves that we would continue to be faithful in sharing the Good News even when unbelievers act uninterested.

In verse fifteen Paul asks a final question, “And how are they to preach unless they are sent” (ESV)? We should pray that believers would be prepared to share the Good News. One of the most common reasons Christians give why they do not share the Good News with other people is that they feel unprepared. They feel like they do not know what to say. They do not know enough to answer objections. They do not know how to lead a person in a prayer to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

Quite frankly, many such Christians underrate their ability and their state of preparedness. After all, this Christian has accepted Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior, right? It would seem like this person should be able to tell his lost friend how he was saved – that he recognized that he had sinned, that he believed that Jesus died on the Cross to pay the penalty for his sin and then rose from the dead on the third day, proclaiming victory over sin and death, and that he accepted by faith Jesus’ offer to forgive him of his sins and to give him eternal life. Most Christians probably know enough that they could share the Good News.

However, there may be some truth in this objection of being unprepared. Some Christians may need to be trained in how to share the Good News. Furthermore, while I think it would be difficult to be completely prepared to handle any and every objection to the Gospel that might be raised, it might be helpful to be trained how to handle certain objections to the Good News.

But the greatest preparation the believer needs is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we share the Good News with lost people, we engage in spiritual warfare. We need the help of the Holy Spirit for such battles. Therefore, as we pray for the lost to be prepared for faith in Christ, we should pray that believers would be prepared to share the Good News. Let us pray that believers would understand the basics of the Gospel well enough to give a simple presentation of the Good News. But let us also pray for wisdom during witnessing encounters.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit would show the believer exactly what he should say and how he should approach the subject. Most of all, let us pray that the Holy Spirit would send believers to share the Good News with our lost loved ones.

Romans 10:1-17 contains a wonderful promise for us as we pray for lost loved ones. The Bible says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But as the apostle Paul notes in verse fourteen, a person must believe in Christ before he or she calls upon Christ for salvation. Therefore, we should pray that the lost would be prepared for faith in Christ.

And, as we pray that the lost would be prepared for faith in Christ, we should also pray that…

1. We should pray for lost would be given opportunities to hear the Good News.
2. We should pray believers would use their opportunities to proclaim the Good News.
3. We should pray believers would be prepared to share the Good News.

References:

Rainer, Thom S. The Unchurched Next Door. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

© 2009 – David G. Woods, Used by permission.

Then Deuteronomy 4:25-31, he pronounced judgment upon them if they were to commit idolatry in the future. They would be utterly destroyed, scattered among the nations, and be required to serve the idols of other nations. But… the big exception was that if they were to turn and to seek God again. If they were to do so, they would find him if they were to seek with their whole heart and soul.

The reason why they would find God and that they could be restored was because God is merciful. Even though they might forget his covenant, God would never forget it. He would not leave them or completely destroy them or forget his covenant.

As we pray for lost loved ones, this scripture in Deuteronomy gives us hope. Even though that family member or friend of yours may be incredibly rebellious, even though this person may live very wickedly, if he or she will turn and seek God with his or her whole heart, God will have mercy on this person.

That is the promise of this scripture in Deuteronomy 4.

But maybe you are thinking, “How far will God’s mercy stretch? Sure, God showed mercy to the Israelites, but my friend, my relative has really spurned God. They have messed up their lives so much … I’m not sure if God can change them and make them whole.”

The big idea of our scripture is this: God delights in allowing seeking sinners to discover his mercy.

While we might feel intimidated to think that God’s mercy is great enough to forgive, change, and restore the worst of sinners, God delights in surprising us.

God longs to welcome the prodigal son or daughter back home. God doesn’t want a person to waste their lives in sin, but God is also ready to forgive the wandering sinner who turns and begins to seek God with his or her whole heart.

So, as we continue praying for our lost loved ones, how should we pray? Let us pray that this person will begin to seek God. Let us pray that this person will seek God with their whole heart. Let us pray that they become so hungry spiritually that every other temporal desire will fade in importance. Let us pray that they will begin to pray to God even if they cannot hear him reply. Let us pray that God will find this lost sinner who has changed their mind.

The night is closing fast … let us be diligent to pray.

© 2009 by David G. Woods, Used by Permission.