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That they may acknowledge Jesus
Message
#19 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
When we pray for the lost, that they will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, confessing and repenting of sin, perhaps we should include a request that our Father give them the courage to step forward and make their decision known. Jesus felt strongly about that, saying to His disciples in Matthew 10:32-33, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." The Greek word for "acknowledge" in this passage and a similar one in Luke 12:8, has a special significance, according to Vine’s dictionary. It means "to confess in a person’s name...the suggestion being to make a public confession. It conveys the thought of confessing allegiance to Christ as one’s Master and Lord." [Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Hendrickson Publishers, pg. 226].Paul underscores this in Romans 10:8-10, when he writes, "...if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." If we confess Jesus is Lord. To repent and believe and receive Jesus as Savior is to yield all we are to Him as Lord of our lives. We pray that the lost we love understand and speak this truth, and yield themselves, that it may be so in their lives.
Pray with me now -- Father, grant the lost clear understanding when they receive Jesus, that He comes not only as Savior, but as Lord. We ask in His name, amen.
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