Silas
Beloved of All
We join you in lifting your former landlord before the Lord, and we thank you for the burden you carry for his soul. You have prayed according to Luke 9:24, that whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Jesus will save it. That is the heart of the gospel. To cling to our own life, our own way and our own desires, is to lose everything. To surrender our life to Jesus, to yield to His lordship, is to truly find life.
We pray that this man will come to that surrender now, while there is time. Scripture teaches that one day at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In that day that confession will no longer bring salvation, it will only acknowledge the truth that was rejected. Now, however, if a person confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in the heart that God raised Him from the dead, he will be saved. With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We pray that your former landlord will make that confession now, in faith, and be saved, rather than later when it can only be a confession of condemnation.
God has already made the provision for his reconciliation. He made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This is the greatest display of His grace, and we urge no one to turn away from it. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. We pray that the Lord will open his eyes to see that without Christ he is without hope and without God in this world, alienated and far off, but that through the blood of Jesus he can be brought near and made new.
You asked that he would recognize his true identity in Christ and be delivered from the false identity that comes when a person leaves the narrow path to follow his own desires. That is exactly what happens when we walk in darkness. If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we are not living in truth, for there is no fellowship between light and darkness, no harmony between Christ and that which opposes Him. Darkness is simply living for self and apart from God, and it blinds the eyes so a person does not know where he is going. But the purpose of God's work in a life is to change us into the image of Jesus, as we behold His glory and are transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit. When a person submits to Jesus as Lord, he leaves the domain of darkness and death and enters into the kingdom of light and life. There is then no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set them free from the law of sin and death. The light of Christ does not need to fight the darkness, His life expels it, for the stronger power overcomes the lesser. The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses from all sin, no matter how great that sin may seem. We pray that God, who once commanded light to shine out of darkness, will shine in this man's heart to give him the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ, and that he will be given a new identity as a child of God, conformed to the image of His Son.
We also pray that he will hear God's voice concerning His holy plan for his life. God speaks to those who surrender and walk in the light as He is in the light. That walk is not perfect knowledge at first, but a willing heart that says, what shall I do, Lord, and then follows Him in obedience, holding forth the word of life and shining as a light in this world.
Let us pray together.
Lord Jesus, You alone are Lord and You alone can save. We ask for Your mercy and grace upon this man. Open his eyes to see that his own way leads to losing his life, and draw him to lose his life for Your sake so that he may save it. Bring him to confess You as Lord with his mouth and to believe in his heart that God raised You from the dead. Let today be his day of salvation. Shine Your light into his heart, cleanse him by Your blood from all sin, and make him righteous before God in You. Deliver him from the false identity that comes from following his own desires, and reveal to him who he is in Christ. Conform him to Your image, guide him into Your holy plan for his life, and help him to walk in the light and have true fellowship with You. We ask this not because of any power in our words, but because of Your great love and faithfulness, and because You desire that none should perish. In the name of Jesus our Lord, Amen.
We pray that this man will come to that surrender now, while there is time. Scripture teaches that one day at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In that day that confession will no longer bring salvation, it will only acknowledge the truth that was rejected. Now, however, if a person confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in the heart that God raised Him from the dead, he will be saved. With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We pray that your former landlord will make that confession now, in faith, and be saved, rather than later when it can only be a confession of condemnation.
God has already made the provision for his reconciliation. He made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This is the greatest display of His grace, and we urge no one to turn away from it. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. We pray that the Lord will open his eyes to see that without Christ he is without hope and without God in this world, alienated and far off, but that through the blood of Jesus he can be brought near and made new.
You asked that he would recognize his true identity in Christ and be delivered from the false identity that comes when a person leaves the narrow path to follow his own desires. That is exactly what happens when we walk in darkness. If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we are not living in truth, for there is no fellowship between light and darkness, no harmony between Christ and that which opposes Him. Darkness is simply living for self and apart from God, and it blinds the eyes so a person does not know where he is going. But the purpose of God's work in a life is to change us into the image of Jesus, as we behold His glory and are transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit. When a person submits to Jesus as Lord, he leaves the domain of darkness and death and enters into the kingdom of light and life. There is then no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set them free from the law of sin and death. The light of Christ does not need to fight the darkness, His life expels it, for the stronger power overcomes the lesser. The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses from all sin, no matter how great that sin may seem. We pray that God, who once commanded light to shine out of darkness, will shine in this man's heart to give him the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ, and that he will be given a new identity as a child of God, conformed to the image of His Son.
We also pray that he will hear God's voice concerning His holy plan for his life. God speaks to those who surrender and walk in the light as He is in the light. That walk is not perfect knowledge at first, but a willing heart that says, what shall I do, Lord, and then follows Him in obedience, holding forth the word of life and shining as a light in this world.
Let us pray together.
Lord Jesus, You alone are Lord and You alone can save. We ask for Your mercy and grace upon this man. Open his eyes to see that his own way leads to losing his life, and draw him to lose his life for Your sake so that he may save it. Bring him to confess You as Lord with his mouth and to believe in his heart that God raised You from the dead. Let today be his day of salvation. Shine Your light into his heart, cleanse him by Your blood from all sin, and make him righteous before God in You. Deliver him from the false identity that comes from following his own desires, and reveal to him who he is in Christ. Conform him to Your image, guide him into Your holy plan for his life, and help him to walk in the light and have true fellowship with You. We ask this not because of any power in our words, but because of Your great love and faithfulness, and because You desire that none should perish. In the name of Jesus our Lord, Amen.
