Praying For a Damascus Road Experience!

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "not get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:3-6 NIV)

 Many know the story of Saul's conversion and all the great things he accomplished as Paul. But what sticks out to me the most is the fact that as Saul, he was a religious man--full of knowledge and zeal, without relationship with God. After his Damascus road experience, he was yet full of knowledge and zeal, in relationship with God, without being religious. And that's the place we all need to be--in relationship with God, not being religious. For it is in relationship with God that we hear God when he speaks. Being religious limits our ability since we are too busy trying to please men/women and doing what they say God is saying to them. These are the modern day Pharisees and Sadducees--the religious leaders who in their zeal to control others, have missed hearing God and pleasing Him.

Father, in the name of Jesus,

I pray for the unbelieving, the doubters, the atheists, the agnostics, and all who by any other label, deny your existence and the Deity of Your Son.

Create for them, O God, an experience in which the light of truth will guide their paths to You so they'll have a testimony of their own Damascus Road revelation. Provide them with knowledgeable people in their lives who can and will teach them Your truths and not the religious ideology that permeates the earth, yet is ineffective against the enemy who wages war within and without.

Bring all to a place where they realize they need You as their provider, comforter, healer, and counselor.

Cause the scales of unbelief and doubt to fall from their eyes so they can see You in all Your glory and begin to magnify and praise You, O God.

And before this day is over, Lord, let the number of souls won to You be increased a thousand times more than there right now and even greater numbers come to You before the end of this month.

I stand in the gap--desiring only to please You and see souls saved so we can live in peace, knowing how to love one another as we love You.

Your Word says that whatever we ask in Jesus' name will be given to us when we believe and not doubt. I believe souls are won as this prayer is shared and I declare it done--to the glory of the Most High. Amen!

Wait For It!

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." (Psalm 27:13,14 NIV)

How many times have we heard the phrase--wait for it? Usually, the phrase has more to do with some spectacular event about to unfold and because it was spectacular, we're never disappointed. And we won't be disappointed as we wait to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living--this side of heaven.

How will we see the goodness of The Lord? When every born-again believer truly walks in their calling--whatever that might be and do the greater works that Jesus said we would do--the entire world will see the goodness of The Lord in everything we do!

Are we not created in His image? Are we not His children? Are we not able to do all He has put on our hearts to do, to His glory? When we become living epistles, read of men, others will see The 
Lord in us because we won't be able to hide the light of His love under a bush, but we shall shine brightly, as a beacon, drawing all the lost to The Lord by the love we show them.

Showing others love does not mean we compromise The Word of God by condoning sin in any matter. We must encourage people to live according to The Word, not in opposition to The Word.

Within the next few weeks, I am re-distributing a book on Amazon that will sound an alarm in the hearts of many and be a wake-up call to the Body of Christ. Some will hate the book (and probably me), some will love it, and some will be wary of the intent. The intent of the book, quite simply is to remind all of God's Word, what He has said about sin, and our what our response should be to those who propose to promote sin rather than godliness. And we can do this--showing love--not displeasing God in order to win people to us.

Our ability to win souls should never be about winning someone to be in our cheering section, or church, but encouraging them to repent, be forgiven, and develop a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Are you ready? Okay, just wait for it and wait for The Lord to see His goodness--through us--to overwhelm the land!

Let Them Quibble!

"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly" (2 Timothy 2:16 NIV).

When I hear someone or see someone use scripture out of context, I am so tempted to jump right in and correct them. The same is true when people attempt to attribute certain things to God or to belittle what God has said. I have come to the conclusion that when people want to be ignorant, there is nothing anyone else can do. So, instead of engaging in unproductive conversation, I pray for them and when opportunity presents itself, I let them know I'm praying for them.

If we engage in stupidity, we tend to become like those who initiated it and the more we talk, the leverage we give them because they know we are easily swayed. Our role, when we hear or see foolishness, is to walk away and pray. As hard as that sounds, we must make it happen. We do not wish to give the foolish, fuel to use to ignite godless chatter because that is what it will be if we engage.

A fool is known by their inability to stop talking about foolishness. Are we fools--other than for Christ? I'm not. If we simply limit our Godly conversation about His love, mercy, and grace--we have opened the door--hopefully for another opportunity to get more involved in a conversation that will yield or produce interest in someone hearing more. If we simply attempt to beat people over the head with enumerating their sins, we open the door for them to attack--with godless chatter--in defense of their behavior and we lose ground if we engage. If we really want people to receive the Good News, we need to use a balanced approach--share His love and then tell them how to be a recipient of all He has for them.

First conversation with limited time: "Hello. How are you today? May I have a few moments of your time? I'd like to share the love of God with you. God loves you and wants only the best for you."

First conversation with more time: "Do you know the Lord as Savior? Would you like to know more? He loves you enough that He died for you and wants to make sure you have opportunity to enjoy the abundant life He has in store for you."

Of course, these conversations will vary, but hopefully, they are enough to open the door for anyone to share the Good News. We must all remember that, "one who wins souls, must be wise." Exercise wisdom in all things and don't become an antagonist trying to win someone to Christ. When we become the antagonist, we give Satan opportunity to win, not us.

If people do not want to hear what we have to say, thank them for their time and move on. If they engage in ungodly conversation, let them quibble; walk away and move on. If they choose to listen, then captivate your audience with God's love and plant a seed or water one and see God's Kingdom grow.