The Importance of Prayer for the Lost “And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” (Luke 5:18-20) I’ve always thought this was an interesting portion of Scripture, so when I recently reread it as I was reading through Luke, I decided to stop and dwell on it for a little while. This passage has some things to teach us about the seriousness of praying for our lost loved ones and those to whom we have given the good news of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. What we see in this passage is that the friends of this palsied man were very serious about bringing him to Jesus Christ. This and the parallel accounts in the other Gospels all say that they went to extraordinary lengths to bring this man to the Lord. They didn’t get to the crowded house, see that it packed out, and decide, “Well, hey, we tried” or “I guess we can come back later.” No – they climbed up onto the roof, removed several heavy ceiling tiles (most likely made of stone) and jury-rigged a means of letting this man down directly into the Lord’s presence. They were not dissuaded by perceived difficulties. Obviously, the palsied man himself had exercised faith in the Lord, for the Jesus told him “thy sins are forgiven thee.” The Lord would not have said this except that He knew the man’s heart, that he was repentant of his sins and was placing faith in Jesus Christ the Messiah. The Lord knew what the real need on this man’s part was – not physical healing, but new spiritual life – and He dealt with that. But it tells us that Christ saw the faith of this man’s friends and marveled as well. These friends were instrumental in engineering this meeting, and apparently the Lord was taking that into account in dealing with this situation. They couldn’t save him, but they could bring him to the One who could. Certainly, this ought to renew within us a zeal for evangelism and to seek the Lord out to overcome difficulties that may exist in reaching someone for the Lord. If we don’t bring the lost to the Lord, the chances are very, very slim that they will find Him. Yes, God can work miraculously in situations and circumstances to reach the heart of a lost soul even if we fall short of doing our duty, but God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that normal and preferred (by God) method for souls to come to the Lord are by means of the evangelistic efforts of God’s people. We have both the privilege and the responsibility to be witnesses, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30) “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Ezekiel 33:7-9) But as I meditated on the verses above, it also came to the forefront of my mind that this passage isn’t just teaching us about evangelism, but also about praying for the lost. We ought to pray for those who have heard the Gospel and had the seed planted or watered in their hearts. We ought also to pray for those who have not, or who have rejected the efforts to give them the Gospel, that the Lord will soften them and prepare their hearts for the seed of truth. Like the palsied man’s friends, we can lift up lost souls to the Lord in prayer. Indeed, we MUST do so. Jesus Himself prayed for those who were, at that time, lost people, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” (John 17:20) Indeed, He was praying for each one of us yet to be born. The salvation of the lost is the Lord’s priority (Luke 19:10), therefore it must be OUR priority. Thus, even our prayer life must be directed to that end. I am not saying we shouldn’t pray for other things – physical needs, comfort, financial needs, etc. – but that this area should be a priority in our prayer lives. We ought to be tireless in removing the ceiling tiles and lowering the one who needs to have their sins forgiven to the Lord. As we see from what it says in our passage about the Lord seeing the faith of the palsied man’s friends, I believe the Lord will bless it when WE act in that kind of faith, not allowing obstacles to get in the way or draw us away from faithfulness in this area. A person can only be saved when he or she repents, believes, and calls upon the Lord for salvation. But we can play a big part in that happening in a person’s life not only by witnessing to them ourselves, but also in praying for those who need to come to Christ, and who we may ourselves never have the opportunity to witness to them. I’ve heard it said, for instance, about the mission field that God will move heaven and earth to get a missionary to a soul who is being prepared, no matter how far away, remote, and inaccessible that field may be. If we were serious about praying for our missionaries to have open doors and boldness, I believe we would see them reap the fruits in saved souls. Indeed, have we ever considered praying for NATIONS? This is something I like to do – pick a nation and pray for it for a few days or a week or so, just whichever one the Lord lays on my heart. It might be Argentina one week, it might be Macedonia for a few days, it might be Rwanda or Uganda or India or Thailand or Japan or Canada or wherever. There are folks who need the Lord all over the world – and here as well. Should we be praying for specific states and local communities right here in our backyard, here in fat, happy, materialistic, close-hearted America? ”Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) Prayer is not what enables God to work. Prayer is what proves to God that we’re serious about what He’s serious about, so that He in turn sovereignly chooses to bless by answering it according to His will. It was certainly in the Lord’s will for the palsied man’s friends to bring Him to the Lord Jesus Christ for the saving grace that was then extended. Shouldn’t we be acting in the Lord’s will by doing the same for the lost around us today?
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 21:52:18 +0000
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