On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up in the midst of all the people and declared to them the gospel. In Acts 2:22 he described Jesus as,
“A man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know”
Don’t you think that was a strange way for Peter to say that. Wouldn’t you have simply said, Jesus performed miracles? He said “that God did through him.” You need to understand that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem He really became a man. He did not lay down His position as the Son of God. But He laid down His power. John 5:19 says,
“The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.”
Ephesians 3:20,21 says something crucial here.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
What is the power at work within us? It is the moving of the Holy Spirit. And that is the exact same power that was it work in the life of Jesus. In fact in John 14:12 he said,
“Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
Now what does that say to us about sharing the gospel? It tells us that the key to sharing Christ is prayer. In John 15 7,8 Jesus said,
“If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. This is to my father's Glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Every one of us needs to have a list of the people who do not know Christ, that God in His sovereignty has put us in contact with. And we need to pray for them everyday.
You know what else? Occasionally we have opportunities to witness that we didn't know were coming. Of course that means we need to and can have a consistent daily prayer life. But it also calls us to get into the habit of praying for people wherever we are. You can pray for a hundred people walking through a Walmart store. Have you ever stood in line say at the grocery store you don't have anything else to do I pray for those people one at a time in front of you.
Now some of you are asking, “What in the world would I pray for those people I do not know?” over the years I have Acquired and developed some memory Guides of things that I really do know to pray for people. But I was going in the article without telling you any of them. That is because part of developing the habit of praying for people Wherever You Are is going through the struggle of allowing the Holy Spirit to show you what to pray for people. And He will do that. I wait for that my wife's purging I will share one with you. It is not original with me I have forgotten exactly where I got it. It is an acrostic for the word B.L.E.S.S. We bless people in prayer.
BODY
Right for a person's physical needs.
LABOR
Pray for a person's work, ability, income, and purpose in life.
EMOTIONS
I pray for a hunger for God, and for ultimate peace.
SOCIAL
Pray for their relationships. Pray for a person's marriage. Relationships will be a barrier or an aid to a person's coming to Christ.
And SPIRITUAL
Pray for the Holy Spirit to draw them.
Who knows who God is preparing to use you to bring to Himself?
This is one of several blog entries taken from a sermon I preached at Crosspoint Church in Reno, NV. You can find the recording and other good things on their website. http://crosspoint.org/index.php/2016-06-01-08-45-06/274-now-to-him-who-is-able-listen-carefully
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
http://daveswatch.com/
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