40 Days of Praying - Day 4

40 Days of Prayer - Day 4

Evangelism: Pray for God to give us even greater passion for the lost and broken of our world and our community. Ask Him to help you lead one to Him this year.

Romans 9:2-3, 10:1
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race...Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

Most of the teaching and encouragement I have had (and probably given) about evangelism has centered on technique. Giftedness would run a pretty close second. But the example we get from the New Testament speaks more to passion than method. We see men and women who won't give up until the people they love know the Jesus they adore.

That's why I love this prayer. It's a prayer for passion, not a glum-faced duty. It asks God to change my heart. It calls on the Holy Spirit to shape my desires. It doesn't make an excuse that I am not gifted or trained. It doesn't ask for someone else. It calls on God to fill me with a passionate desire to make him known and loved.

Here is something I know. I know that what I am deeply passionate about I figure out how to do. I need to care. I need to cry for my friends and family. I need to feel their desperate, hopeless condition. I need to care enough that I stop thinking about myself and my needs and I start looking for ways to serve and love and give a verbal witness to the supremacy of Jesus Christ. I need passion. God help me.

O God, have mercy on me. Let me see your glory so clearly and love it so deeply that I want the people I love to see it. And help me love the people I know and meet. Give me passion for advancing the Kingdom. Give me me a heart for the world and for my neighbor. O Holy Spirit, fall on me and make me a witness to the majesty of Jesus. Amen.

Grace.