James Banks- "Jack was a rough-spoken plumber who worked on our church building project several years ago. After he learned I was praying for him, he sometimes asked me to pray for his friends. I prayed daily for seven years for God to draw Jack near and save him. (Google image, Plumer)

One Saturday during my morning devotional time, I was convicted about a need for more people to come to Christ at our church, and I prayed a simple prayer: "Please, Lord, just give us one!"

That afternoon my cell plone rang. It was Jack. "I've just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm not ready." We agreed to meet, and he consented to have others pray for him. At our church's prayer meeting that Sunday evening we prayed for Jack's healing and salvation. The following week Jack received Jesus as his Savior and was baptized the following Sunday.

Prayer emphasizes God's ability to make things happen. When we humbly admit we can't force others to come to Him, we open the door for God to accomplish what we could never do. When we pray for His Spirit to draw others near, we invite His power.

Because of God's kindness to us through Jesus, we can "approach God's throne of grace with confidence' (Hebrews 4:16), as we cry out with compassion for those lost in darkness and facing eternity apart from Him. And as we love others with our prayers, we can be assured that our Savior "is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:34).

(Adapted from Pray First" The Power of Prayer in Sharing the Gospel by James Banks, c/o Our Daily Bread Ministries)

Let's pray-

Father, as we become more aware of the lost souls around us, give us burdens for their salvation! Impress upon us in our devotional time to offer simple prayers for You to hear our pleas for folks we believe are lost not knowing that Jesus is the One who is the Savior/Redeemer.

After praying for them, may we expect You to work in their lives to cause them to seek You for their salvation and healing. Use whatever it will take to soften their hearts to draw them to Your Heart to reveal their soul's need, and Your provision for them.

We humbly admit that we cann't make things happen to soften hearts, so we pray that You will draw folks and reveal Jesus is the Way to peace with You. May they see that You are willing to forgive their sins and to draw them near to receive You, thus accomplishing what we could never do. Our prayer is that they invite Your Spirit into their hearts and lives, and to experience Your power to save them.

Because we are invited to approach Your throne of grace with confidence, we plead for folks lost in darkness, facing eternity apart from You. Help us to love others with our prayers, and be assured that Jesus is also interceding for them, and for us.

In the mighty name of Christ we pray. Amen

716-720 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

716- Job 14:14 "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come."

717- Ps. 85:7 "Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation."

718- Act. 5:29 "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

719- Ps. 107:43 "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD."

720- Ps. 12:6 "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in furnace of earth, purified seven times."

Quotes for today-

~ Dr. David Chotka- "Let us be clear. Prayer is no kindergarten exercise for the faint of heart. Prayer is an encounter with the power of God, and with God Himself; this God we serve is no tame or doting clestial grandfather who projects benevolence on all who deign to speak with Him. Rather this is an Almlighty Sovereign who has an agenda to save the world.

He is magnificent love and severe holiness at the same time. His agenda is to overthrow evil at the very deepest root. To get us to the place in which this can be done, He will lead us into our calling. Our calling to proclaim Christ and to resist evil in all its forms may make us sweat profusely and find no comfort except in knowing that we are being and doing exactly as God commands." [Taken from pp. 246-247 of his book, POWER Praying]

~ Renee Bethel- "As a Christian, you have a personal relationship with God and He wants to talk with you about yourself. Just the fact that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 9:6b), and that we have an enemy who wants to tear us down, should keep us in prayer for ourselves. When we cover ourselves in prayer, we are reminded that God is with us, and it’s a beautiful image of hiding ourselves in the safety of his arms. Psalm 91:4 reminds us that, 'He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.' ”

Words of wisdom-

~ Christ is not a puppet king, but when we ask for our daily bread in His name, we can expect Him to provide. When we focus on knowing Christ in the midst of our need, He supplies us with Himself — our needs are met.

Today's guest post-

4 Ways to Make Your Grandkids Feel Special

Linda Gilden- "We all need to feel special. But what great joy you have when you become a grandparent and you have the privilege of making the next generation of your family feel the love and encouragement of their grandparents.

There are many ways to make your grandchildren feel special. Many of them involve spending time with your grandchildren one-on-one. Here are a few suggestions for getting started."

If you're looking for help to receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, my link to Billy Graham's information is Prayer for Salvation

Upcoming posts:

6/25th- Prayer In Perilous Times

Lois Stacky

7/2nd- #20 Intercession Is a Spiritual Gift

Peter Wagner

9th- Three Lessons from My Dog

Penny Cooke

Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)

Pages

Prayer for salvation

For God Seekers- Healing Thoughts and Prayers