In II Corinthians 4, we are told that there is a spiritual element to the lost man remaining lost, even when presented with the Gospel message. The god of this world blinds his mind, so that the light won't get into his heart.
The good news is, in the next few verses, God does sovereignly shine the light of truth into the hearts of individuals, and they are marvelously converted.
That whole "light shining into the heart thing" comes from the mouth of the preacher (Rom. 10). So, obviously, the people of God bear responsibility to share the good news with the lost man.
There is an essential step that precedes that telling: PRAYER!
So, I suggest we carpet bomb our culture with prayer. Here's a tactic we're using in our church.
We are in a Mormon community. In our town and surrounding communities, there are 83 Mormon congregations called Wards. We have put the locations of these congregations on cards and distributed them to our church people, with the instruction to pray regularly and tenaciously for these wards. Our people are going to these wards, walking around, even kneeling, praying that the bishops and their people would 'accidentally' open their Bibles and be grabbed by a verse that won't let them escape.
What if every Bible-teaching church in every city would spend time praying for the lost church congregations in their community? Mormons, church of Rome, Jehovah's Witness, Hari Krishna's, liberal churches. God, who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, hears these prayers, and I believe could rock our world if we cry out for his help.
The good news is, in the next few verses, God does sovereignly shine the light of truth into the hearts of individuals, and they are marvelously converted.
That whole "light shining into the heart thing" comes from the mouth of the preacher (Rom. 10). So, obviously, the people of God bear responsibility to share the good news with the lost man.
There is an essential step that precedes that telling: PRAYER!
So, I suggest we carpet bomb our culture with prayer. Here's a tactic we're using in our church.
We are in a Mormon community. In our town and surrounding communities, there are 83 Mormon congregations called Wards. We have put the locations of these congregations on cards and distributed them to our church people, with the instruction to pray regularly and tenaciously for these wards. Our people are going to these wards, walking around, even kneeling, praying that the bishops and their people would 'accidentally' open their Bibles and be grabbed by a verse that won't let them escape.
What if every Bible-teaching church in every city would spend time praying for the lost church congregations in their community? Mormons, church of Rome, Jehovah's Witness, Hari Krishna's, liberal churches. God, who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, hears these prayers, and I believe could rock our world if we cry out for his help.
Rev. Lee Whitworth
BMW Utah Pastor
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