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Claiming the lost by name
Message
#4 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
Are you ever in such a hurry that you fail to take time to pray, or you leave out someone or something that’s important to you? I’ve been there, and with you, I need to acknowledge that prayerlessness is sin [1 Samuel 12:23; James 4:17; Luke 12:47]. When we fail to pray for the lost, that is one of the most serious sins of all--because someone’s eternal salvation is at stake, and we may be the only Christian he knows. What if we’re too busy, too often?Wesley Duewel, in his book, Mighty Prevailing Prayer, writes: "There is probably no single sin that you and I ought to acknowledge with deeper shame than the sin of prayerlessness. ...where is the power that attracts the unsaved, that causes them to tremble in the presence of God, that brings them to real repentance and transformed lives...?" [Wesley Duewel,, Mighty Prevailing Prayer, pp. 32-34]We’re not only to pray for the lost, but we’re to pray as effectively and fervently as we can [James 5:16b]. I once read an article that emphasized claiming those who are lost by name in our prayers. Even though they don’t know it yet and haven’t made the choice, we learn in 1 Timothy 2:6: "...Christ Jesus...gave himself as a ransom for all men."[italics added] We can remind our Father in our prayers, "This person belongs to Jesus because He has already paid the price. I claim him by name for the Lord."Wouldn’t it be tragic if someone we loved missed his eternal salvation, salvation for which he has already been ransomed, bought with a price, paid in full? What if he missed it because we failed to pray?
Pray with me now -- Father, forbid that our sin of prayerlessness should keep someone out of heaven. We claim those we love for Your kingdom, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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