it should be noted; and I have mentioned this before to others in my fellowship that there ARE no verses where a SPECIFIC lost person is prayed for. This is a key point to strongly verify that predestination is the necessary ingredient for anyone to come to salvation. The book of John shows how the elect all come to Christ; and repentance itself as Ephesians and other scriptures mention is a gift from God. The verses in your other commentary all show how God works to generally save people collectively.
The only other option is to be a universalist; in regard to God "drawing all men unto Himself". Indeed many are called and few chosen; and God allows the wheat to grow up with the tares in the visible body of Christ for the invisible true church to eventually be made evident in time. Of course our natural inclination is to see family and friends; or "nice people" to be converted. We tend to neglect those ministries where a "Damascus road" experience occurs; but those in prison ministry certainly see it quite frequently. Whatever the response OUR message needs to demonstrate agape love for the unloveable. For us to display through a surrendered life the fear and joy of the Lord in the message our life demonstrates along with a trust in the validity of scriptures when speaking to others means that they are reading our lives along with the delivery of the gospel message. Right now; much of the Body of Christ is asleep and needs to wake up-some individuals have been out of regular fellowship a long time and are living compromised lives. Most people have some familiarity with scripture; but are blinded to the truth that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh (not some avatar or New Age like cosmic force); that what they consider humanitarian and loving behavior is still coming from selfish motives of pride if the Spirit of God isn't at work. Our own sin needs to be exposed; and only the Lord can do that. The Spirit convicts of sin; righteousness and judgment
Praying to the Lord of the Harvest - In Reply on John 14 - 1 year ago
[Your prayer should touch upon all these points below.]
So Jesus tells his disciples: "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."
Notice this: his first solution to this problem of an urgent, abundant harvest is not "go into the field and get to work"; it's "ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers."
Jesus isn't implying that his disciples won't be sent-that God is going to send someone else, so all they have to do is stay comfortable at home and remember to pray. On the contrary. The very next passage will have Jesus sending his disciples out.
But there is an ORDER to things, and a necessary equipping.
The harvest, after all, belongs to God. So it's God who must take the initiative and commission workers, thereby giving them the right to work in his fields in the first place. They need AUTHORITY for this work.
They also need to be EQUIPPED To bring in a physical harvest requires tools: (scythes, threshers, barns) To bring in a spiritual harvest requires tools also, Bible, Chick Tracts. We cannot do this kind of prayer on our own.
So Jesus commands us to pray the Lord of the harvest to do something. There is a general principle here: as someone wiser than me has quipped, "Don't just do something, stand there." And while you stand there-pray.
PRAYER is how we partner with God. It's how we bring heaven to earth. It's how we access his will and his power to get it done.
Prayer should always be our first response when we see a need-not because we aren't willing to roll up our sleeves and help, but because we recognize that we need authority and gifting from God in order to do it.
The only other option is to be a universalist; in regard to God "drawing all men unto Himself". Indeed many are called and few chosen; and God allows the wheat to grow up with the tares in the visible body of Christ for the invisible true church to eventually be made evident in time. Of course our natural inclination is to see family and friends; or "nice people" to be converted. We tend to neglect those ministries where a "Damascus road" experience occurs; but those in prison ministry certainly see it quite frequently. Whatever the response OUR message needs to demonstrate agape love for the unloveable. For us to display through a surrendered life the fear and joy of the Lord in the message our life demonstrates along with a trust in the validity of scriptures when speaking to others means that they are reading our lives along with the delivery of the gospel message. Right now; much of the Body of Christ is asleep and needs to wake up-some individuals have been out of regular fellowship a long time and are living compromised lives. Most people have some familiarity with scripture; but are blinded to the truth that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh (not some avatar or New Age like cosmic force); that what they consider humanitarian and loving behavior is still coming from selfish motives of pride if the Spirit of God isn't at work. Our own sin needs to be exposed; and only the Lord can do that. The Spirit convicts of sin; righteousness and judgment
Matthew 9:38; John 17:20,21; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:1; 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
So Jesus tells his disciples: "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."
Notice this: his first solution to this problem of an urgent, abundant harvest is not "go into the field and get to work"; it's "ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers."
Jesus isn't implying that his disciples won't be sent-that God is going to send someone else, so all they have to do is stay comfortable at home and remember to pray. On the contrary. The very next passage will have Jesus sending his disciples out.
But there is an ORDER to things, and a necessary equipping.
The harvest, after all, belongs to God. So it's God who must take the initiative and commission workers, thereby giving them the right to work in his fields in the first place. They need AUTHORITY for this work.
They also need to be EQUIPPED To bring in a physical harvest requires tools: (scythes, threshers, barns) To bring in a spiritual harvest requires tools also, Bible, Chick Tracts. We cannot do this kind of prayer on our own.
So Jesus commands us to pray the Lord of the harvest to do something. There is a general principle here: as someone wiser than me has quipped, "Don't just do something, stand there." And while you stand there-pray.
PRAYER is how we partner with God. It's how we bring heaven to earth. It's how we access his will and his power to get it done.
Prayer should always be our first response when we see a need-not because we aren't willing to roll up our sleeves and help, but because we recognize that we need authority and gifting from God in order to do it.
THANK YOU for your willingness. Streetpreacher
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