An Unusual Birthday Request
Several years ago, my friend asked for a very unique birthday present. It was such a humble request with divine consequences.
As I sat reading her request, my heart filled with joy at her obvious love and her eternal focus.
Her request was simple:
In lieu of presents, she wanted all of her friends to pray for the salvation of one of her dear friends.
Her request lodged in my heart and in my daily planner. I wrote down her friend’s name and prayed over that friend for that entire year.
Her request made me realize that oftentimes we talk too much. We try to convince someone of the beautiful truth that we know and love, but we don’t spend enough time praying for them.
Yes, of course they need to hear the truth, but their hearts also need to be prepped to accept it.
God is amazing in His ways to bring people to Him. The devil is fighting so hard to keep them from hearing and believing, so we need to fight the spiritual battle. We need to get on our knees and pray for that person to be open to hearing about the Lord and trusting Him.
This past Sunday, I was reminded of my friend’s humble request when our preacher shared a challenge a neighboring congregation does daily. It’s simple and powerful:
Choose three people every day who don’t know the Lord and pray for them to know Him!
How wonderful is that?
It only takes a little time and a whole lot of love!
Who are three people you can pray for today who don’t know our Lord and Savior already?
Maybe it’s a dear friend, a family member, a co-worker, neighbor, or classmate. Maybe it’s the cashier, a waitress at your favorite restaurant, your mailman, UPS guy, or your child’s teacher. Whomever it is, write their names down today and pray over them.
Lord, we praise your name for saving us and caring about every single “sheep” that is lost. We thank you for asking us to be a part of your plan to spread your Word. We humbly ask that we will call out in Jesus’ name for each person who we know doesn’t have a relationship with you yet. Help us to stand up courageously and fight spiritually with prayer. Help us live out our lives in such a way that brings you glory and brings them to you. In Jesus’ name we pray – Amen!
Are you ready to accept this challenge?
Pray over these three people now, before you even close this post!
If you comment with their first names, we will pray over them too…not just today but all month! Who can we pray for?
Continue to be Encouraged…
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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Prayer is so essential, but I’m still always in need of a reminder and especially to pray for others. Thank you for your words. <3
Rita, Janelle, and Vanessa. I never thought about praying to prepare their hearts. A lot of my family is not Christian, so I will be adding this to my prayer list.
Kristen, I will add them to my prayer list too!
This is awesome! Very profitable read. Charles Spurgeon once said “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for”. I always ask the Lord to allow me to understand the significance of one lost soul from His perspective. God Bless.
This really got me thinking. What a great idea for birthdays!
Such a great reminder of what we should be doing! I’m praying for Rachel, Zach and Cara. Thanks! – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
My youth pastor introduced me to this concept when I was in high school. Only he recommended we use 5 names. I had them posted by my bed forever. I still update it every year, even though it’s no longer posted. One name has been there forever, other’s I’ve lost touch with and replaced, but I’m hoping God laid them on someone else’s heart.
SO important that we be caring for others needs as well as our own
What a great idea – in lieu of presents… Prayer! I love it. I will definitely be implementing this for myself.