Week 24
Jeremiah 9:1 “Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”
Romans 9:1-3; 10:1 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh…Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
Many a Christian grieves over the lostness and spiritual sickness of a loved one. We worry much over the sicknesses that overcome the body, but spiritual sickness is infinitely worse. A child, a sibling, a parent, or a friend who is lost and spiritually sick can cause the soul of love to ache with yearning that God would work miraculously and edifyingly to bring spiritual renewal and life in Christ.
We pray for our loved one, and we beg God to pour out His gracious blessing to awaken the mind and draw the soul to Jesus.
And well we should, because it is only God who can do this vital spiritual work. The work of spiritual awakening must be done in the inner caverns of the deep residual halls of human spirituality. Although a sermon may be the instrument of awakening, a sermon cannot cause this change to happen. It comes only by the dispensation of free sovereign expression of the eternal God who seeks the lost sheep to bring it home.
And this is that for which we pray. We ask God to pursue and overtake the wandering sheep. We beg God to deliver the soul of our loved one from the devilish clutches of the evil one. We beg God to cast the light of truth upon their minds, and open their spiritual eyes that they might see, yes truly SEE, the glories of Christ and the magnificence of truth.
As Christians, let us not forget that God hears and answers prayer. We can count on God to hear us when we pray for our family and friends. One says, “But God is sovereign; He will do what He wants.” But how do we know but that God has instigated our praying for our family and friends that He might answer that prayer in a mighty way? We don’t, but we pray as if we do. As the Puritan, Matthew Henry used to say, when God gets ready to move, He gets His people praying.
And let us not forget that both the prophet Jeremiah and the apostle Paul both preached to the people for whom they prayed. We must testify and speak to our loved ones for whom we are praying. God uses our admonitions and urgings to come to Christ and to the gospel. May the Lord answer our prayers in this matter today.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I commit to you my loved one for whom my soul is burdened. Draw them, convict them, and bring them to Jesus. Amen.
