Talking to God About People

For those of us who have been silent and ashamed too long, we need an extreme makeover, heart addition. For God to work in our hearts, make us over into His image, make us bold witnesses, evangelists, sharing the gospel of Christ through word and deed. In the film, the Apostle, there is an evangelist who goes to another town, begins to rejuvenate an old closed church, and evangelist, E.F. Dewey, begins to have some success in seeing people come to church, and the church is getting going again. One day they are out at a fellowship meal outside. When a guy that is upset with the preacher and upset with the church comes by in a bulldozer, with the every intention of dozing down the church, leveling the church. And so, Pastor Dewey walks up to him in front of the bulldozer, stands right in front of it, lays a Bible open down in front of the bulldozer, and challenges the guy to go any further. Well, the guy is a little intimidated by that, but he's still not going to stop, so he gets down off of the dozer, goes around, kneels down to pick up the Bible off the ground, and Pastor Dewey kneels down quickly, beside him puts his arm around him. And while the whole congregation is behind him praying, he says to that young man, you didn't really come down here to knock down the church, and he begins to talk to him about what's in his heart, and the anger in his heart, and takes that Bible and leads him to Jesus Christ right there on the spot, while the congregation is behind him praying. It's quite an amazing scene in that film. You know, oftentimes when we talk about evangelism, the only thing we focus on is how to talk to people about God. And that's very important, we're going to be talking more about that in this series as we go along, but this morning I want us to focus more on how to talk to God about people, because that too is important. Before we go any further in this series on evangelism, I want us to look at what role prayer plays in evangelism. Let's begin by talking about why we need to pray. Why do we need to pray anyway? I mean, you know, God is going to save who is going to save, or he's going to use us to witness to people, and it's all up to us to witness to them and get them saved. And that's the way it works. Why do we need to pray? Well, there are two reasons the Scriptures indicate that we need to pray. The reasons why we need to pray in order to see evangelism really done right. The first one is this, genuine salvation requires that God be working. If someone is really going to be saved, it requires that God be at work. We need to understand that salvation is a God thing from beginning to end. It is God's work from front to finish. All the way it is God's work. It's not our work, it's not our persuasions, not our promotional gimmicks and schemes, not anything we do, it is God's work from beginning to end. I want you to look with me in your Bible at Romans chapter 8. We're going to look at a lot of verses today rather than just one passage, but I want you to turn to a few of them, and this one I want you to look at in Romans chapter 8 verses 29 and 30. Where God describes for us really a five-step process of the work He does in salvation. Now, most of us are familiar with verse 28, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Now, what I'm going to really want to focus on is verse 29, which talks about God's purpose in salvation. Verse 29 says, for those God for new, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son that He might be the first born among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called, and those He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified. Now, notice if you will, those five steps, they begin back in eternity past. Way back before the world was ever created, the Bible says, God for new us. Now, that doesn't simply mean that God knew that one day I'd get saved, so He said, that's a pretty good idea. I think I agree with that. I'll work and help that happen. Doesn't mean that. Consistently in the Bible, the idea of God's foreknowledge is that God set His love on us. It's His choice, what He does. And those the Bible says He foreknowed, He predestined, which simply means He marked out ahead of time to be made like Christ. And then those He predestined or marked out ahead of time for that, He called the Bible says. Now, the calling of God is that special work of God in our hearts, whereby the Holy Spirit woozes us and convicts us and draws us to the Savior. It happens before we're saved, but it results in us getting saved, whom God predestined, He calls, and then whom He calls He justifies. That's the moment when you received Christ. When you trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior at that moment, you were justified. You were declared righteous in the law courts of heaven. God's record books were changed to show that Christ's righteousness was now in your account, rather than your own sin. That's justification. And then the Bible says those whom He justified, He also glorified. Past tense. It hasn't happened any with any of us yet. Believe it or not, you haven't been glorified yet. We won't get glorified till we get to heaven. But in God's eyes, that end of the spectrum is just as certain as the beginning end. And so it's spoken of as in past tense. We are glorified already in God's eyes. Now, all of that is God's work. God started salvation from before the foundation of the work, before the foundation of the world. He will end it when we're in heaven. It's His work from beginning to end. Now, I would remind you that the same man who wrote that, and described salvation as from beginning to end, God's work. The same man who wrote that also said to the Philippian jailer, these words in Acts chapter 16. Look at them on the screen. Acts 16, He said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. You and your household. It's your responsibility, He said, you need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the same man who wrote that also wrote to the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20, we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God. In other words, it's your responsibility to be reconciled to God. Now, we could sit here all day and debate how the sovereignty of God in salvation, His work, and man's responsibility to receive Christ be reconciled to God to believe in the Lord Jesus, we could debate all day how those two things fit together, and probably nobody would come away satisfied with our conclusion. But this much we know. It is our responsibility to share the gospel with people. It is God's responsibility to save people. It's our responsibility to share the message with hearts of compassion. It is God's responsibility to save people. You're not going to save anybody. I'm not going to save anybody. God does that. But it is our responsibility and the means that God uses to get people saved is for us to share the message of the gospel. Jesus said it this way in John 6.44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him. And I will raise Him up the last day. Now, how does the Father draw people to Him? Jesus explained a little later on in John 16 and verse 8 when He said when He comes, speaking of the Holy Spirit, when He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. So the Father draws people to Jesus, the Savior, through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, begins to work in our hearts. We hear the message of the gospel. We get concerned, convicted, bit out of shape, angry, whatever. All that is a sign of God working in our hearts through the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin. And eventually we come to Christ. That's how the Father draws us through that work of the Holy Spirit. So salvation is a work of God. It's our responsibility to give out the good news. But it's beyond our power to persuade anyone to be saved. That's why it's so important that we pray that God be working in people's hearts as we give out the message. Because it's not human persuasion or promotional gimmicks or evangelistic programs or what it personality or whatever that works. It is God's spirit that works in hearts. God's power that works in hearts. That's what does the job. And as we are faithful instruments to witness, we need to be praying that God would be at work because genuine salvation requires that God be working. Paul said it this way. In 1 Corinthians 3, he likened this whole process to farming. He said, I planted the seed of polys watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. You see, we may give out the seed, and that's our responsibility. The seed is the Word of God. We give out the seed. We scatter the seed. We sow the seed faithfully. Somebody else comes along and waters it. They dump a little more on it and pray and work a little more until the soil. But the only way anything is going to happen in a person's heart is if God works, God brings the harvest, God brings the response. With that in mind, and knowing what the Scriptures say, we must be people of prayer. So that God is working when we speak, genuine salvation requires that God be working. But there's a second reason why we need to be praying in regard to evangelism. Because not only does genuine salvation require that God be working, but effective evangelism requires that God be working as well. Now we're not going to talk about the hearer. We're going to talk about the teller. We're going to talk about the person who's giving out the gospel. It's important that God be working in His power in our hearts and lives as well as we give out the gospel. Not only must God be working in the heart of the hearer, but also in the heart and words of the teller. Let's go over a few pages in our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul talks about this a little bit to the Corinthians. He says in verse 1, When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. Now verse 2, for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on man's wisdom, but on God's power. Now most of us feel like the Apostle Paul when we come. When we begin to share the gospel or when we see an opportunity to share with someone what Christ means to us, most of us have that same little fear in our hearts or maybe big fear in our hearts. And we get caught in our mouth and we have difficulty coming up with the right words to say to get started. We may have fear. Now Paul's fear and trembling had to do with his understanding of the weight of the message. And that ought to create some fear in us as well. It's a heavy responsibility to be dealing with eternal things. But you know fear can do one of two things to us. Fear can make us stop in our tracks and never open our mouths about Christ. And if so, fear is a bad thing. But fear can also cause us to depend more heavily on the Lord and pray that he would give us the boldness and the strength that we lack. And if so, fear is a good thing because it drives us to the Savior. You know if we could do this on our own, we wouldn't need the Lord. But we cannot do this on our own. We need God to be working through our hearts and our words. Evangelism is not dependent on persuasive speech as Paul said. It's not dependent on promotional gimmicks or powerful techniques or great salesman type personalities. It's not dependent on those things. It is dependent on the spirit of God working in our hearts and through our words. Paul recognized that so deeply that he consistently asked people to pray for him as he preached and as he shared the message of the gospel. I mean I was amazed again as I was looking back through his letters. And just to pick out how many times he did this. I just want to go through them real quickly with you so that we see them. First of all Romans 15, verse 30, he says to the Roman church, I urge you brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. So he told the Roman church, please pray for me. Join me in that way in my struggle. He told the Ephesian church the same thing in Ephesians 6. He said pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in change, pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should. You know once again I think Paul had some fear at times and he asked for prayer to be able to share fearlessly the gospel. He also asked the Colossian church the same thing. Pray for us too that God may open the door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in change. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should. He asked the Thessalonians church in 1 Thessalonians 5. Brothers pray for us and then he asked them again in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Finally brothers pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as it is with you. At least in those five letters Paul asks specifically for prayer for him so that he can preach the gospel and fearlessly proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to other people. You see evangelism getting the gospel to lost people is supernatural stuff. This is not human stuff. This is not stuff I can do. You can do this is supernatural stuff. This is God's stuff. And so we need his power both on the part of the speaker and the hearer to understand to be able to fearlessly proclaim the message of the gospel. You know I suppose Ron Lance was probably the last guy in the world who thought he would ever be a hero. Ron Lance has been a truck driver for almost 40 years now. At the time this event I am going to describe happened back in October of 2002. He had been a truck driver for 36 years. He is a member of a church in Fort Wright, Kentucky. He leads the men's ministry in that church. He teaches the Sunday school class faithful member of his church in Kentucky. He has driven a truck for a long, long time. And so in October of 2002 when the nation was mesmerized and the Washington DC area was terrorized by a series of sniper shootings that left 10 people dead. Ron Lance was concerned. And as he would drive his truck he would keep up on the bulletins that were coming out from the police and you know we are thinking it may be this kind of vehicle and be on the lookout and so forth. But one day in October of 2009, 2002 Ron Lance started to drive his route and before he got out on the road he got on his CB radio and he called out for other truckers to join him in prayer. And later reports indicate that about 50 truckers did pull off the road and Ron Lance led them in prayer that somehow police would be able to find whoever was responsible for these terrible hideous crimes. About 30 minutes later Ron Lance pulled his rig into a rest area. And as he drove into the rest area he noticed a Chevy Caprice that matched the car the police thought they were looking for. And so he thought, I wonder if this is it. He saw one guy laying in the car, one guy laying out on a bench beside the car. And so he called 911 and pulled his rig up and closed the exit to the rest area so they couldn't they couldn't get out easily and sure enough police were there within minutes. And two men were arrested. They happened to be the two men who were responsible for those crimes. 30 minutes before that he had prayed they would be found and God used him to be the answer to his own prayer. Now your prayers may not be answered quite as fast and quite as miraculously as that but God will hear you if you're praying. God will give you the boldness you need to be able to speak like Paul prayed help me to be fearless in being able to talk to people about the gospel. God will answer that prayer and God will be working in the hearts of people. But we need to pray because genuine salvation requires that God be working effective evangelism requires that God be working. So okay we need to pray. Okay we got me we got me convinced on that preacher we need to pray. So what do I pray? How do I pray? Let's talk not only about why we need to pray but how we need to pray. If we're going to pray for effective evangelism is it one of those kind of cover all prayers you know like you have at night. You know Lord if I've done anything wrong today please forgive me Lord help everybody. Bless my family you know one of those kind of overall prayers is this kind of like that Lord help me to be a good witness or can we be a little more specific. Can we pray a little more pointed a little more focused? I think we can be more focused. Let me quickly give you six suggestions as to how principles biblical principles rather than suggestions biblical principles about how we can pray effectively. Number one pray for tender hearts. Pray for tender hearts. Now I'm not talking about the heart of the hearer I'm talking about our hearts. As presenters of the gospel we need tender hearts. It is not natural for us to have hearts of compassion for lost people. That doesn't come naturally. You know why? Because naturally our human nature is selfish. We have a sin nature and we are naturally selfish. We're concerned about our own deal our own schedule our own to do list. And so we go through our day thinking about our stuff and it's not natural that we see other people like God season. Through eyes of compassion and tenderness. Once you return in your Bible again to Matthew chapter nine very familiar missionary text but it's more than a missionary conference text. It tells us Jesus heart it shows us Jesus compassion for lost people in Matthew chapter nine verse 35. Matthew nine thirty five Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. So focus in on those words that describe what Jesus saw when he looked at crowds of people. When Jesus looked at those crowds he saw they were harassed and helpless. Those are very strong words. Their words which literally mean to be beaten down to be left bloody and battered and on the side of the road like sheep that have been brutally sheared and just left on the side of the road. They don't know where the shepherd is they're confused they don't have any direction that's a kind of situation we've got here Jesus sees people that way. Jesus sees people who've been bruised and battered and bloodied and broken because of what life does to us because of what circumstances happen and he sees people who are beaten and used by religion. By those who are in it for their own glory and they just use people and leave them bleeding along the side of the road. Jesus saw that because that's what the Pharisees were doing to people laying all these heavy burdens legalistic observances on everybody they wouldn't even keep them themselves. There was just using people Jesus saw that and his heart broke for people who were like sheep that had no direction and were just lying on the side of the road battered and bloodied and beaten and it broke his heart. He was moved inwardly with compassion and you know what he did verse 37 he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out literally to thrust out laborers workers into his harvest field. Jesus was so concerned he wanted to reach all those people but there were more people that were needed to take the message and so he asks his men to pray. We need that kind of compassion we need that kind of heart for people to see them as they really are not just to see them as an obnoxious neighbor or a cruddy coworker you know something like that we need to see people as God sees them. There are hearts are broken and their lives are directionless and their whole existence is purposeless and we need to see people that way. I believe Paul caught that. I believe Paul had that kind of heart. Look at these verses in Romans chapter 9 that describe Paul's heart for his people. He said I speak the truth in Christ I am not lying my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart 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. Now that's amazing coming from Paul because Paul is thought of rightly so as the apostle to the Gentiles it was his ministry to take the message to the Gentiles and yet his heart broke for those who were his brothers. He was not for those who were his own people ethnically racially the Jews his heart broke for them and he wanted to see them saved and he said if it were possible I could even wish that I would become a cursed and separated from Christ in other words if I could go to hell and in place of the nation of Israel the nation of Israel could be saved. I'm not sure I can say that. I'm not sure I have that kind of heart hopefully it's headed that direction but I'm not sure I can say that but Paul said I want you to know I'm not exaggerating I'm speaking the truth the Holy Spirit confirms this in my conscience I really feel this way. I think Paul had the same kind of heart Jesus had and we need that heart too we need to see people around us like God sees them like Jesus saw them so pray for tender hearts secondly and I'm going to remind you some things I said last week pray for open doors pray for open doors as we saw last week collotions for three Paul asked the collotion church to pray for us that God would open a door for our message pray for open doors you know last week we talked about the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the fact that open doors are natural opportunities to share Christ with somebody that just kind of come up in life's events and in conversations. Tony Campolo is a well known Christian author and speaker teaches at a Christian college up in Pennsylvania filled out the area he was asked to speak at another Christian college in Chapel one day so he goes over and there a couple got several guys that want to meet with him before the service to pray and so they took him in a back room and they gathered around him and they began to pray and he said the prayer meeting for the chapel of service was going great until this one guy started praying and this one guy started praying about something had no connection with what they were doing he started praying about Lord you know my friend Charlie you know Lord Charlie the guy that lives down in the silver trailer just about a mile down the road from the college Charlie that's the guy Lord he told me this morning he's gonna leave his wife and three kids and so Lord I pray for Charlie you know Lord Charlie the guy that lives down here in the silver trailer just about a mile down the road from the college he kept saying that and Tony Campolo was saying what's going on here does God need directions or something to this guy's place what's this guy doing in prayer and it had nothing to do with the service but the guy just kept praying out of a burdened heart for this guy that he had met named Charlie who told him he's gonna leave today his wife and three kids and so finally the prayer meeting is over and Tony Campolo goes out and preaches and chapel and went well and they got done and he got in his car and started down the road sure enough with all that had been said he thought to look and there was that silver trailer right alongside the road he drove a couple of miles down the road and he noticed a hitchhiker and so he stopped to pick him up they got back on the road and Campolo introduced himself my name's Tony Campolo what's your name guy says my name's Charlie Tony Campolo took the next exit the guy said what are you doing getting off the road Tony looked at him and said you just left your wife and three kids didn't you and I got the guy scooted over next to the door you know looking over at Tony Campolo this true story and so things got really freaky when Tony Campolo turned around came back up the other side started back and took the guy to the trailer and the guy said how did you know where I live Tony Campolo said God told me so he walks up the guy walks up on the porch and his wife throws the door open and comes out says honey you came home you came home and Tony Campolo's standing there so the guy starts whispering in his wife's ears and her eyes are getting wider looking at Tony Campolo now so Tony Campolo goes up on the porch and he says okay come on you two sit down I'm gonna talk you're gonna listen of course they did you know we're gonna listen to this guy and so he took the Bible and explained to them the message of salvation and both of them got saved that day and today Charlie is a pastor of a church not that makes the story any better but you know they got saved that's the ultimate you see when we are praying for open doors God will do some strange things sometimes to open doors but he will open doors and when that happens we need to take advantage of those opportunities God will open doors so pray for open doors thirdly pray for our pray for open hearts pray for open hearts I just remind you the verse we looked at last week Acts 16 14 Lydia they're in Philippi Paul is preaching and the Bible says that the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message God will open hearts and he does some amazing things to open hearts Bible tells us in the Old Testament that God opened the heart of the King of Assyria the King of Medo Persia actually which included Assyria to let the Jews go back to their land and build their temple there is no heart beyond the work of God God is able to open hearts to the gospel message so pray for tender hearts on our part pray for open doors then pray for open hearts fourthly pray for open mouths we looked at that last week too I just want to remind you that we dare not remain silent we dare not remain silent appreciated Angie's song this morning many of us have been silent too long and we need to pray for God to make us over and help us to have that desire and boldness and openness to share Christ when we seize the opportunity or see the opportunities remember the verse we looked at last week if you were here Ephesians 619 we saw it earlier today Paul asked the church pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel so he prays Lord open my mouth and give me the words to say that's what we need to pray I was so excited this week when I got a phone call from somebody in the church and they left a message and I called them back and they said you know something happened I we've got someone who's coming to our house to work on our kitchen and came in one day and he began to talk about something he had read I believe it was as a story goes it's something he had read and all of a sudden I remembered what you'd said in your message that may be an open door and so she is lady began to pursue that and it opened up the opportunity to witness to that guy and she was so excited this really does work God does open doors and give us the words to say when we needed at that time and for him I'm here to tell you today it does work if we are praying consistently that God would open doors and that he would open hearts and that he would open our mouths there will come opportunities and if we are willing to seize those take a few breaths you know okay I'm gonna do this Lord and you know regardless of whatever fear you may feel God will give you what to say in those words in those moments he'll give you what you need to say so pray for open mouths number five pray for a defeated enemy pray for a defeated enemy you see people getting saved is really a spiritual rescue operation it's like the army rangers going in behind the enemy troops and getting somebody out and rescuing them it really is that's the way Paul describes it in Colossians chapter one look at this Colossians one he says for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves so it's like a behind the enemy lines rescue operation he's gone in and gotten us rescued us out and now we're in the kingdom of his dear son but I want to tell you something Satan does not give up his captives easily and so there are a couple times in the gospels we won't take the time to look at it now but a couple times in the gospels where Jesus in responding to the Pharisees who said you're doing your miracles by the work of Satan Jesus says no you don't do God kingdom work in the power of Satan in fact in order to do God's kingdom work you have to go in and bind the strong man in the house and then you can take his possessions now that was an example that Jesus was using of actually incapacitating Satan first before you can take his possessions back and I think there's a sense in which that's true in evangelism Satan is not going to give up his captives easily and we do not have the strength in ourselves to defeat the enemy of darkness we must be praying for God's power to do something for to Satan bind him to incapacitate him so that he can no longer be able to hold those captives and we can rescue them with the gospel we need to be praying for spiritual power to see God at work so pray for a defeated enemy and then number six pray for the loss to be saved pray specifically for a lost people that you know to be saved Paul did that in Romans chapter 10 and verse 1 look at what he said he said brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved and he told us in 1st Timothy 2 that we ought to pray for governors and kings and all their in authority that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life but also he says so that they might be saved because he says in verse 4 God wants all men to be saved and so we're to pray for the salvation of other people specifically people that you know your neighbor your coworker friend you grew up with family member pray specifically for them to be saved so pray for the loss to be saved you see friend we need to faithfully show Christ in our lives and tell the gospel to people as though the salvation of the lost depended entirely upon us in a sense it does because we are the means that God has chosen to use to reach lost people but this morning I want you to understand I want you to realize I want to focus on the fact that we also need to pray as though the salvation of the lost depended entirely upon God because in a reality it does it does if God's not working nothing's going to happen so we need to be praying both in our hearts and our words and in the hearts and minds of the person who hears the gospel that God will be at work that God will do what only God can do Bill Hadley was an evangelist years ago he has quite a story you see Bill Hadley grew up in a Christian home but early on left what he knew to be right and began to walk in ways of the world to begin to experiment with a lot of different things in fact he became an alcoholic at a young age in his early 20s he'd been dabbling in all kinds of stuff in his teens and by the time he was in his early 20s he was he was a bad alcoholic in fact he was so bad that he would he would get gold fillings out of his teeth get them out pry them out dig them out and sell them to get more money for alcohol finally begin to bounce from jail to jail in the Chicago area and one day he had gotten as low as he could get and he'd just decided I'm giving up this note but there's nothing to live for and so he's walking down South State Street in Chicago going toward Lake Michigan he's gonna jump off a pier or something in Indies life he just had it he was done as he walked down South State Street he heard the song the tune of a familiar song coming out of a building you remember it as a song that his mother had taught him when he was child so he turned toward that building and walked in happened to be Pacific Garden Mission and a personal worker inside the rescue mission sat him down got him something to eat kept him overnight he got a little sobered up the next day they shared with him the gospel and Bill Hadley got saved and Bill Hadley in his own words would say I didn't just get saved I got transformed he was literally turned around became a tremendous witness for Christ but the battle for Bill Hadley hadley's soul did not really get one that night in the Pacific Garden Mission the battle for his soul was one on the knees of a faithful mother who prayed for him for years and years and years when Bill Hadley finally died after many years as a faithful Christian serving the Lord his family went through his personal effects they found a little box of pictures and one of those was an old photograph it had it was a photograph of Bill Hadley all dressed up and his about 20 years old first job nice new suit this was before alcohol took him down and on the back of that picture was a note his mother had written in or dated January 1st 1908 it said this oh will every night when I read my Bible I look at your picture this picture and I ask God to keep you and somehow heal your heart with his love you may see this after I'm gone from this world if you do you'll know that I never ceased to pray for you mother we need more mothers like that we need more daddies like that we need more grandparents like that we need more Christians like that who are willing to give themselves to unceasing prayer for others family members friends co-workers neighbors and just see what God will do it's pray now Father help us to have the tender hearts that Jesus had toward the lost to see people as you see them then Lord I pray that you would open doors and open hearts and open our mouths and help us to share the gospel fearlessly as we know we should when we have the opportunity Lord help us to be praying that you will be at work both in us and in the people who have a chance to hear the gospel so that we can see what your power does in their lives Lord help us not depend upon ourselves our cleverness our boldness whatever Lord we need you to do this great spiritual work that none of us can do in our own so or even now we pray that you will be tugging at hearts moving in lives to bring people to yourself in Jesus name Amen