 Previous |
Open their hearts
Message
#6 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
In Acts 16 we learn of Lydia’s conversion to Christianity. It reads, "On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia...who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message" [Acts 16:13-14]Lydia was a woman of prayer, a worshiper of God, who didn’t know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, her Messiah. I was once a Lydia. I worshiped God, and I prayed. At times in my life I went to church and tithed faithfully, often going daily to early morning services. Like Lydia, the Lord had to open my heart to respond to the truth of the Gospel. We’re told we must believe and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior by faith [John 1:12, 5:24, 6:40, 11:25-26], that none of us can come to the Father except through Jesus, no matter how much we worship and pray [John 14:6], and that without accepting this truth, we perish [Luke 13:3,5].I’d never understood any of that. When, like Lydia, the Lord opened my heart to consider and think through my decision to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior through prayer, my life changed. Today I am not the person that I was. I remember that when I pray for the lost, always including in my prayers sincere churchgoers who have never responded to Paul’s message. I ask our faithful Lord to open their hearts as He opened Lydia’s, and mine.
Pray with me now -- Father, open the hearts of the lost and help them decide to give their lives to Christ. Let them respond to the truth, in Jesus’ holy name, amen.
ã 1999 PrayerPower Ministries, P.O. Box
1368, Dallas, TX 75380-1368, 1-800-949-PRAY. |
