0080. Prayer in Soul-Winning

Prayer in Soul-Winning

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat;

"But I HAVE PRAYED FOR THEE, that thy faith fail not" (Luk_22:31-32).

If we are to win men to God, we must pray for them by name. The Old Testament priest had a twofold work–first, he was to tell God of the people; second, he was to tell the people of God.

So we are all God’s priests. Our duty is to tell the people of God, to press home upon them the story of the Cross, the Risen Lord, and the Coming Christ; but, that is not our first duty. First, we must tell God of the people. We are in no heart preparation, nor are we panoplied for the work until we have spent our while alone with God.

Before you see the matchless Spurgeon standing before the gathering crowds and preaching grace; go, and steal within the secret closet where he prayed.

Think not of David Brainerd pleading with the Indians of our far North lands, but think of him in agony of prayer as he kneels in banks of snow and pleads in prayer until the sweat rolls down his face.

The picture that thrills the soul, is not that of David Livingstone traversing the African Wilds and teaching Christ, so much as it is that of David Livingstone spending nights in prayer to God. And most stirring is the scene of Livingstone, after many a hardship and many a completed task of love, at last found dead upon his knees. He had borne the people of his heart’s desire to God in prayer so long, that, as he prayed God said, "It is enough" and took him home to his blest reward.

If we are to win souls, we too, must pray, pray, pray.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR