To be an effective pray-er, you need compassion for those outside your inner circle
How much time do you spend praying for those who don’t know Christ yet? My husband calls unbelievers pre-Christians, and I love that, because we believe that they won’t be unbelievers forever, and we want them to come to know Christ soon. It’s easy to look at sinners in the world and get discouraged. Jonah did just that when God asked him to go and as a missionary to Nineveh. He was more than a little reluctant. The Ninevites were not the most desirable people to go to, and Jonah was disobedient to what God has asked him to do. In the long run, after a three day tour in the “Mouth of Fish Cruise Line”, he changed his tune, and became willing to do what was asked of him. What is interesting about Jonah’s story is that the fish actually was a rescue ship for him. Had God’s mercy not intervened, he would have been at the bottom of the ocean instead of the belly of a fish! Jonah may have gone through what we feel like when sharing our faith with the lost. We could be afraid of rejection, or even afraid of looking foolish. In the big picture of life, especially with earth being short and heaven being long, we need to just get over it! If they reject you, it is really Christ they are rejecting. If we look foolish, why not be a fool for Christ. I do think we should not be trying to get rejected, or on purpose looking foolish….that in itself would be foolish. But when we do share Christ, let’s make sure that we realize we could be changing someone’s whole destiny. Their life journey changes from bound for hell, to bound for glory! Our prayers for those pre-Christians really do have an effect. God can prepare the soil of their heart, to receive the Word that we will share with them. We can ask Him to remove blinders from their eyes so that they can see the goodness of God. The Bible does say that it is the goodness of God that draws men and women to salvation. Let’s do our part by praying for the lost to be saved.